“We had our own Chanukah miracle. By right we all should be dead, including my grandchildren. I don’t wish what we went through on anyone” explained Nechemia Michaeli, 53, an Akko councilman.

As Michaeli and his family were lighting Chanukah candles, a masked armed gunman entered their home, armed with an AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle. The incident took place on motzei shabbos, the eighth night, as Michaeli was lighting alongside a number of grandchildren.

He explains they did not lock the door since they were expecting an aunt to arrive later on. “I began lighting when we heard a knock at the door. My wife assumed it was the aunt who was to arrive. Suddenly, she was staring down the barrel of an AK-47.”

Michaeli managed to remain calm Baruch Hashem, stating the armed man did not speak. Michaeli punched him, knocking him to the ground. He and his wife managed to grab the automatic weapon from the gunman.

Jewish and Arab neighbors who heard a commotion came running and they assisted. Police arrived shortly thereafter. “It appears that to our good fortune, his weapon jammed and failed to fire, and that is why we are alive today” explains Michaeli.

Police report the gunman has a record including robberies and drugs and it appears the incident was not a terror attack. The assailant is a 31-year-old Kiryat Bialik resident.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)