Arabs continue to attempt carjackings in Judea and Samaria, and they continue to target female drivers, as they have in the past.

The latest incident took place Thursday night. Rabbanit (Rebbetzin) Ofra Schmidt, whose husband is the rabbi of Shavei Shomron and heads the hesder yeshiva there, too, drove eastward out of Karnei Shomron at about 11:15 p.m., toward Shavei Shomron.

Her three daughters were with her in the car.

“In the second turn, after the road that goes up to Ramat Gilad, where there is gravel and narrow shoulders, a red vehicle was standing at the side of the road. After we passed it, it signaled to the left and started driving; it went very slowly and was far away from us.”

“When we reached the entrance to Funduk, there were four vehicles driving pretty slowly before us. When we came out of Funduk, the red car was right behind us. At the start of the downward incline, the car in front of us turned on its emergency lights, then tried to stop at the side of the road and immediately returned to the lane and began zigzagging in our lane.”

“Once his emergency lights began blinking, the red car behind us got very close to us. We had no way of overtaking the vehicle ahead.”

In a split second decision, Rabbanit Schmidt turned toward Kedumim and waited at the gas station. “At the moment we turned toward Kedumim, the vehicle behind us braked suddenly and four guys jumped from it, big guys. One of them was wearing a short sleeved black shirt. He ran to the convenience store at the gas station and stood at the entrance, looking right and left.”

The Rabbanit began driving up to Kedumim and alerted the security officer, who escorted the car into the community. Later at night, the police and military contacted her and told her the incident was “a classic case” of attempted carjacking.

The car that had been driving in front of her also had at least four people inside it, she said.

Arab theives prefer to target cars driven by women, whom they deem less likely to possess guns and put up an effective fight. On occasion, they attack a car they think is being driven by a woman, only to face a surprise. Carjacking victims have, on occasion, had to kill their attackers in self defense.