Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., January 01, 2008 Tevet 23, 5768 | | Israel Time: 10:47 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File Magazine
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 07:41 30/12/2007
ANALYSIS / Nipping new W. Bank Jewish terror group in the bud
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Setllers, Jewish terror 

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 on 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 the murder of seven Palestinians in gun attacks on West Bank roads.

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.
Advertisement
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.

Related articles:
  • PA premier Fayyad says suspects in killings of 2 Israelis caught by PA
  • Soldiers killed on hike in West Bank eulogized for courage
  • IDF: PA police killed settler Ido Zoldan in West Bank last week
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us
    Construction freeze
    PM says no W. Bank construction without his prior approval.
    Lived to tell the tale
    Surviving hiker recounts Friday's attack in Hebron Hills.
      1.   The shape of things to come 03:33  |  danite 30/12/07
      2.   Time to abandon the whole concept of a Jewish `people` 05:22  |  Adi 30/12/07
      3.   Blame Bush and Olmert 05:46  |  The Maintenance Man 30/12/07
      4.   analysis/Nipping new W.Bank terror groups in the bud 06:37  |  Martin List, M.D. 30/12/07
      5.   Whitewashing Arab terror 07:13  |  Frank 30/12/07
      6.   # 3 to the maintenance man 07:38  |  eric 30/12/07
      7.   # 4 to martin list in CALIFORNIA 07:47  |  eric 30/12/07
      8.   The difference between the groups 07:56  |  Ricardo 30/12/07
      9.   Spinning more Yarns for the PA? 08:05  |  Efox 30/12/07
      10.   Breathtaking leap of (il)logic 08:08  |  Andy 30/12/07
      11.   Nipping .... 08:42  |  Rachel 30/12/07
      12.   These dolts aren`t concerned about Arab terror. They worry 08:44  |  Chaim 30/12/07
      13.   just israel`s forefathers did before them... 08:44  |  eric 30/12/07
      14.   @2 adi and the illogic of a dead argument 09:02  |  victor hardman 30/12/07
      15.   The right of self defense 09:04  |  Moshe 30/12/07
      16.   Nonsense propaganda 09:07  |  David 30/12/07
      17.   #2: Adi: Difference between "people" and "race" 09:09  |  Israel_is_Done 30/12/07
      18.   Sick of you... 09:13  |  Ben 30/12/07
      19.   Jews invented terrorism in 1946-48, Arabs are feeble imitators 09:13  |  Israel_is_Done 30/12/07
      20.   to # 6 and #8 09:32  |  The Maintenance Man 30/12/07
      21.   To Nip in the Bud the Leftism School of Thought 09:39  |  Joseph E . 30/12/07
      22.   Is this `nipping` a part of `rape Israel` plan? Just asking. 09:47  |  Terry 30/12/07
      23.   re: Israel_is_Done 09:56  |  Efox 30/12/07
      24.   The Arabs Are Lucky That We`re Not Like They Are 10:16  |  Yishai Kohen 30/12/07
      25.   Jewish terror has been active frmo the beginning 10:23  |  Natallie Durson 30/12/07
      26.   RACHEL TEL AVIV YOU ARE SPOT ON!! 10:25  |  Miriam Ashkelon 30/12/07
      27.   To Rachel and Miriam 11 & 26 10:48  |  Choni Davidowitz 30/12/07
      28.   eric about Hebron 10:48  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 30/12/07
      29.   SHUT DOWN THIS PRO ARAB TERROR NEWSPAPER!! 10:55  |  Dr Sam Friedman 30/12/07
      30.   Absolute garbage article 10:57  |  Velvel 30/12/07
      31.   Shame on you HAARETZ- pro terror newspaper!! 10:58  |  dr sam friedman 30/12/07
      32.   Right-wing Israeli politicians and Palestinian terrorists 11:01  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/12/07
      33.   Haaretz - DEFERING peace and supporting the enemy!! 11:02  |  Dr SAM FRIEDMAN 30/12/07
      34.   # 3 not even sarcastically should anybody 11:05  |  Kris 30/12/07
      35.   #25, "as bloody as any terror group in history" 11:07  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 30/12/07
      36.   # 11 # 26 Soldiers are Killing Maschinges 11:14  |  Kris 30/12/07
      37.   # 18 point of view is all that matters 11:31  |  Kris 30/12/07
      38.   Kris in Austria 11:33  |  Miriam Ashkelon 30/12/07
      39.   terror group....? 11:37  |  ravi 30/12/07
      40.   swiss dino "right wing israelis" 11:52  |  toblerone 30/12/07
      41.   to#17-Israel Is Done 11:53  |  Adi 30/12/07
      42.   #14 Victor 12:16  |  Adi 30/12/07
      43.   #14 Victor pt2 12:27  |  Adi 30/12/07
      44.   # 40 toblerone 12:31  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/12/07
      45.   Jewish Terror groups? 12:42  |  Terminator 30/12/07
      46.   swiss dino the question remains 12:51  |  toblerone 30/12/07
      47.   Naalie Duh? in LA 12:53  |  Terminator 30/12/07
      48.   Gush Katif evacuees have not have not been resettled 13:06  |  PETER SM 30/12/07
      49.   # 46 toblerone 13:13  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/12/07
      50.   Toblerone - on Europeans and Jews and the Swizzer... 13:18  |  Ofer Maimon 30/12/07
      51.   #42 adi admits to political myopia!!! 13:26  |  victor hardman 30/12/07
      52.   # 38 you can have peace 13:34  |  Kris 30/12/07
      53.   # 35 Here are a few "facts of history" .. 13:37  |  Natallie Durson 30/12/07
      54.   # 46 by the way, toblerone and "zeroing in on Jews"...... 13:50  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/12/07
      55.   15. Moshe you have a right to defend poland 13:51  |  fact 30/12/07
      56.   # 46 toblerone, by the way, if we are already at it...... 14:11  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/12/07
      57.   Victor 14:12  |  Adi 30/12/07
      58.   # 50 Ofer Maimon 14:34  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/12/07
      59.   to Adi #2 14:34  |  Hilda 30/12/07
      60.   Hilda-. 14:53  |  Adi 30/12/07
      61.   #57 adi needs stronger contact lenses 15:07  |  victor hardman 30/12/07
      62.   what terrorists, they were resistance fighters 15:14  |  Labhras 30/12/07
      63.   nothing more interesting to say Victor? 15:21  |  Adi 30/12/07
      64.   #42/43 Adi re so called Victor hardhead 15:26  |  Labhras 30/12/07
      65.   PS: I dont wear contact lenses 15:49  |  Adi 30/12/07
      66.   If its Harris, he`s certainly gone off the boil/lost the plot 15:56  |  SinnFeinIRA 30/12/07
      67.   congratulations 15:57  |  kaled 30/12/07
      68.   #59 Hilda premature gloating in the US 15:58  |  Labhras 30/12/07
      69.   sam friedman 29 16:33  |  realism 30/12/07
      70.   #54 Swiss Dino the true Centrist. 16:40  |  Labhras 30/12/07
      71.   #66 Sinn fein IRA 16:42  |  Labhras 30/12/07
      72.   #64labarse of arabia and comedic advise to the myopic 17:10  |  victor hardman 30/12/07
      73.   #53 Natalie re Chippyora 17:11  |  Louisa 30/12/07
      74.   victor littleputz got new word `myopic` 17:16  |  fact 30/12/07
      75.   #74 more comedy on word usage you should visit more often! 17:25  |  victor hardman 30/12/07
      76.   Sinister Groups or Sinister Reporting 17:27  |  B 30/12/07
      77.   Too bad the logic is not applied to the other side 17:30  |  Tosefta 30/12/07
      78.   Only one problem with this analysis 17:59  |  Gee 30/12/07
      79.   False and Provocative Headline 18:51  |  Bertram 30/12/07
      80.   re: Israel_Is_Done: ONE thing we DIDN`T invent 19:03  |  Shammai Agami 30/12/07
      81.   danite 19:12  |  GABE1