Israel Matzav: Kidnapping was 'easy'

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Kidnapping was 'easy'

While Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri HY"D was buried in Jerusalem this afternoon, the IDF and the media continued to try to sort out how the kidnapping happened and when Asheri was murdered. According to the Jerusalem Post, the IDF believes that Asheri was murdered on Sunday night, shortly after he was kidnapped:

OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh revealed on Thursday morning that the youth had been shot in the head immediately after the kidnapping on Sunday.
On Wednesday, elite police and IDF forces arrested Popular Resistance Committees operative Osam Abu Rajil, who was suspected to have been involved in the kidnapping. Abu Rajil led the forces to a mountainside north of Ramallah, where Asheri's body was found buried, Army Radio reported.
Naveh confirmed Thursday that Abu Rajil was personally involved in the kidnapping.
Naveh told Army Radio that the cell that abducted Asheri was instructed and paid by sources in Gaza for the kidnapping.

What I find more frightening though is this interview with the terrorists that appeared on YNet's web page:

According to claims made by a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committee, Israeli teen Eliyahu Asheri, who was murdered by Palestinian militants this week, was not killed on Sunday as assessed by the IDF but was kept alive until Tuesday and executed when Israel launched a large-scale attack on Gaza.

“We decided to kill him only after we saw that the IDF, (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert and (Defense Minister Amir) Peretz didn’t care about the Israeli soldier’s life and continued to attack Gaza, despite our calls to stop,” Abed Aal, also known as Abu Abir, told Ynet Thursday. “When the attack didn’t stop, we understand that Asheri’s life held no value for the Israelis and we executed him.”

Abu Abir said that “Eliyahu Asheri’s abduction and execution proves that from our point of view, Israel’s security is a paper tiger, it is more fiction than truth, and we proved that in the kidnapping which was carried out easily and with no difficulties.”

...

“We promise that this will not be our last attempt,” Abu Abir declared. “Operation ‘Cavaliers’ Wrath’ is continuing and there will be more kidnappings. I promise Olmert and Peretz that when they spill Palestinian blood, our only response is through our operation: We will kidnap and kill you and burn the earth beneath you. We promise to drown you in fear and terror.”

How did the kidnapping take place?

“In order not to interfere with the operational activities of our mujahadeen cells, who are even now setting up ambushes for the next kidnapping, all I can say is that it was carried out between two main IDF checkpoints in the West Bank, and during the abduction the mujahadeen went through a number of checkpoints with the hostage. This proves that we have exposed to everyone the lie of the power and attitude of the Israeli security system.” [This proves that every car carrying Arabs should be searched at every checkpoint. Someone had better let Machsom Watch know. CiJ.]

“The abduction was easy to carry out, and the hostage was alive for two days. Before we issued the announcement of his kidnap and after, the Israeli security system couldn’t decide who the kidnapped person was. Of course this only encourages us to continue the blessed Jihad and we promise more abductions in the near future.”

“Operation ‘Cavaliers’ Wrath’ will turn Israelis’ lives into hell. Soldiers and settlers will find us everywhere; we will come out at them from under the ground and above it. We will to attack from every direction. The Salah a-Din Brigades are completing preparations for the next big operation. We will kidnap and murder more Zionists,” he said.