The Bus Driver Who Fought the Terrorist: "Hashem is the Real Hero, I Was Just the Messenger"

"My brother, Shimshon, may he rest in peace, appeared to me on the bus and instructed me on how to fight the terrorist. He shouted with force: 'Herzl, hit the brakes now!' Thanks to Hashem and him, I got my life back," describes Herzl Bitton, the bus driver on line 40, the moments of horror and fear during the attack that occurred about a week ago in Tel Aviv, when the terrorist ran amok, shouting: 'Slaughter the Jews.'

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Bitton (55), who was stabbed and wounded in his internal organs, testifies today that his brother Shimshon, who passed away about five years ago, was the one who guided him every step of the way. Later, at the hospital, Bitton experienced another spiritual event: "I was about to return my soul to the Creator, but from the heavens, it was announced to me that it wasn’t my time."

Herzl Bitton at Ichilov Hospital (Photo: Flash 90)

Bitton, a man of faith, observant of Torah and mitzvot, is a veteran driver at the Dan company. He has been working there for 28 years and knows the regular passengers almost personally. It seems he cares for everyone, as if he were the father of the bus riders.

On the morning of the deadly attack, which occurred about a week ago near the Maariv junction, Bitton got on the line for another supposedly routine ride. "The dispatcher gave me a head start because someone didn’t come to work. So instead of leaving at 6:52, I left at 6:47," he says. "At the third stop, a righteous woman with a twin stroller got on. A Charedi woman who boards the bus every morning, but this time her husband wasn't with her because he was at the yeshiva. I got off the bus to help her with the stroller, and after seeing that she was seated, I resumed the ride. I continued the routine ride, and when I reached Rothschild Street, I saw a line already full of people, so I overtook it and continued picking up passengers. By the time I got to the central station in Tel Aviv, the bus was full, and everything went smoothly."

When did the terrorist board?

"He got on at the Electric Company, after Sudanese and Eritreans got on using a Rav-Kav card. He got on last. He didn’t have any Arab appearance. He had gel in his hair, and he looked strong and completely normal, without a distinct Middle Eastern look. He tried to insert a 50 shekel bill into the payment machine and failed, then began pressing buttons. I asked him, 'Why are you pressing? Is this a new game?' He made strange noises. I thought maybe he was deaf or mute, so I left him alone. I took the bill from him and performed the payment transaction for him. After some passengers got off because the bus was crowded, he sat behind me on the four-seat bench."

Bitton continued with the ride, maintaining eye contact with the passengers - a rather routine and banal move meant to ensure everything is okay on the bus. At some point, near the Maariv junction, there were about 50 passengers left on the articulated bus. Bitton, who had just started the journey, noticed a traffic jam ahead. Suddenly everything was interrupted. He looked up and saw the terrorist starting to stab him.

Right: Shimshon, may he rest in peace. Next to him, Herzl Bitton (photo: courtesy of the family)

"I didn’t understand what was happening," recalls Bitton, "I thought to myself that maybe he was hurt by my comment. I didn’t think he was a terrorist. Meanwhile, he’s stabbing me, and I still don’t feel the pain, just see everything filling with blood. My whole white shirt turns red. After he finished with me, I see him going from seat to seat, shouting 'Allahu Akbar!' and stabbing everyone in his path. I see the passengers getting wounded, see the massacre on my bus, but I didn’t lose control. All the time I was thinking how to stop, how to prevent him from continuing."

"Herzl, do as I say"

Bitton noticed a vehicle from the Nachshon unit of the Prison Service behind him and tried to draw their attention. "I started to accelerate, zigzag with the joints of the bus to show that something wasn’t right, and I turned on the flashing lights. They realized something was wrong and tried to overtake me but couldn’t." During the moments of terror on the bus, which lasted about three to four minutes, the terrorist moved among the passengers, trying to harm as many of them as possible. When the terrorist got close to the mother with the twins, Bitton understood something had to be done but didn’t know what. "I saw him approach the mother with the twins, and she protected them with her two hands and shouted 'Shema Yisrael, Hashem is our God, Hashem is one.' Suddenly, I got a blackout. In front of me, I saw my brother, Shimshon, may he rest in peace, who passed away in my arms about five years ago after suffering from a prolonged illness. He and I were like twins. The age difference between us is 11 months, so we did everything together. When he passed, I took it hard. His last words were to keep his children safe.

"At those moments on the bus, Shimshon told me: 'Herzl do as I say, and you'll see the terrorist will come to you.' I told him I couldn't move anymore as I was also stabbed. He said 'I’ll help you, just when I tell you, press the emergency brake of the bus, which causes a complete stop. When he gets to you from the force of the sudden stopping, don’t let him. Hit him and take control of him.' Suddenly he shouted at me with force: 'Press now.' I couldn’t press the first time, but on the second try, I pressed, and the terrorist just flew towards me from the back of the bus. I opened the doors, and the passengers quickly got off, while I fought with the terrorist until I expelled him from the bus, and there I continued to beat him to stop him."

ZAKA at the scene of the attack (Photo: Flash 90)

Bleeding and wounded, Bitton fought the terrorist until he felt his strength ebbing. As security personnel took command of the situation, he began to feel a tremor throughout his body, and an awful cold. At this point, he thought 'here, my soul returns to the Creator.' Bitton informed his children that he was on the way to the hospital. "Everything depends on Hashem and all the righteous," he said on the phone, "Hashem is protecting me, and I believe I will get through this," he encouraged his family.

"A Higher Power Protected Me"

Bitton is aware of the immense divine providence evident in every detail. Later, in the hospital, he had a particularly spiritual experience when, during surgery, he felt how a dialogue was conducted between his soul and the souls of his relatives in heaven. "I thank Hashem, blessed be His name forever," he says with emotion, "I ask as much as possible to sanctify Hashem’s name in public. What happened to me is not to be taken for granted. A higher power protected me. Hashem wanted me to stay alive, and sent my brother to me. During the surgery at the hospital, I saw before me a tunnel and a yellow flash, and my mother and father were pushing me out, so I wouldn’t reach there. My brother also pushed me out. I told them: 'Why are you pushing me? I haven’t seen you for a long time.' They said my place isn’t with them, I need to return and marry off my children. In other words, I was about to return my soul to the Creator, but from the heavens, they informed me it wasn’t the time."

How are you today?

"I was in critical condition, and now with Hashem's help, the condition has improved," says Bitton, the grandson of Rabbi Masoud Ben Sabbath, who prayed with the Baba Sali in the same synagogue in Morocco. "Yesterday I left the hospital and moved to rehabilitation. When I get out of rehabilitation, I will, with Hashem's help, say the blessing of 'gomel' and hold a thanksgiving celebration with rabbis. We will sanctify Hashem’s name. Hashem performed a great miracle for me. Perhaps it was my mission to be on the bus and help the passengers, but the real hero is Hashem, I was just the messenger."

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