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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Blocking the escalation By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff The effort by the security forces to capture those who carried out the shooting attack where two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed west of Hebron on Friday is doubly important this time. It hopes to pay back the terrorists and keep them from attacking again, but it is also designed to nip in the bud the creation of a new Jewish terror organization in the West Bank. An analysis of incidents in the past few decades in which Jews struck at Palestinians shows that right-wing terror groups grew amid Jewish settlers' increasing fears for their safety and progress in the peace talks that would lead to the evacuation of settlements. The latter concern helped form the terror group that operated in the West Bank in the first years of the second intifada. A few members were arrested and tried for attempting to plant bombs in Arab schools, but the Shin Bet security service also blames this organization for murdering seven Palestinians in gun attacks on West Bank roads. Advertisement Friday's attack was the second in slightly over a month whose victims were young people from older, ideological, settlements in the West Bank. In November, Ido Zoldan of Kedumim was murdered. The two soldiers who were killed near Hebron on Friday were from Kiryat Arba and belonged to families with a deep connection to the settlement enterprise. An increased sense of threat among the settlers could lead to acts of revenge, from public disturbances and damage to Arab property to the use of arms, in the most extreme case. Zoldan's murder was followed by rioting in Funduk, the village where the attack took place, but not by revenge attacks. One reason is that the murder followed a long period of relative calm. Another is the rapid capture of the terrorists. Witnesses to a number of shooting attacks in the area say they saw a Subaru with its trunk open at the site. IDF commander Col. Eran Niv of the Ephraim (Qalqilyah) area, believing that Zoldan's killers came from the nearby Palestinian village of Qadum, carried out searches in Qadum the night after Zoldan's murder and found the car. The murderers were in Shin Bet hands by the following day. The fact the two soldiers managed to kill one of their attackers and wound another gives the IDF an advantage: As soon as the identities of two members of the cell are known, the remainder will probably not take long to find. Israeli hikers do not frequent the Telem stream, where Friday's attack took place, so it is unlikely that terrorists ambushed the three Israelis. (A woman hiking with the soldiers escaped uninjured.) The stream is also relatively far from the nearest Palestinian village, so it is unlikely that the terrorists were alerted by other Palestinians to the presence of the Israelis. Members of the Palestinian preventive security forces suggested yesterday that the Israelis might have accidentally interrupted a meeting of arms dealers, who subsequently decided to shoot them. Bookmark to del.icio.us Au revoir Assad Sarkozy says he'll cut ties with Syria over the Lebanon presidential crisis. Women march on Women in Black marks its 20th year, but the occupation continues.

Today Online PM spokesman says Israel taking bin Laden threat seriously Responses: 349 Pinpointed IAF attacks in Gaza more precise, hurt fewer civilians Responses: 161 Harel and Issacharoff: Nipping new Jewish terror group in the bud Responses: 114 Women in Black marks 20th year, but occupation continues Responses: 68 France to cut ties to Syria over Lebanese presidential crisis Responses: 65 More Headlines 00:40 Palestinians: IDF kills Gazan en route from hajj 23:09 PM spokesman says Israel taking bin Laden threat seriously 20:42 Iranian envoy offers Egypt cooperation on nuclear program 21:20 EU blasts Palestinian bid to pass banned chemical off as food aid 01:59 Arab pupils lag behind Jewish peers in reading comprehension 01:45 Surviving hiker recounts Friday`s shooting attack in Hebron Hills 18:30 Comptroller aides: Bank Leumi case against Olmert still open 23:28 France to cut Syria ties over Lebanon presidential crisis 01:49 Knesset panel approves watered-down benefits package for reservists Previous Editions Select Day 30 dec 28 dec 27 dec 26 dec 25 dec 24 dec 23 dec 21 dec 20 dec 19 dec 18 dec 17 dec

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