Israel Matzav

What really happened in Itamar

Former Republican candidate for Congress from New York Liz Berney writes in the Great Neck News, New Hyde Park Courier & Williston Times on May 26, 2011, about a meeting with Rabbi Moshe and Leah Goldsmith of Itamar. Rabbi Goldsmith is the Mayor of the town and described what happened on that horrible night of March 11 when five members of the Fogel family HY"D (may God avenge their blood) were murdered by 'Palestinian' terrorists.

On Monday evening, March 28 Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith, the mayor of the town of Itamar, Israel, and his wife Leah spoke at Great Neck Synagogue. The couple spoke about their love for their town, and described and showed pictures of the town's organic farms and school for disabled children. The Goldsmiths also explained Itamar's historic Jewish roots. The town was built (and named after) the nearby burial place of Itamar and Elazar, the sons of the Biblical figure Aaron (Moses's brother). (Unfortunately, these Jewish burial places are now located in Awarta, a neighboring Arab village, which prevents Jews from praying at the gravesites. Awarta is also the frequent launching pad for attacks on Itamar's families, including the murder of the Fogel family.)

The Goldsmiths also described the vital strategic importance of Itamar to all of Israel. Itamar sits on the critical hump of the mountain that watches over the entire coast of Israel and the Jordan Valley. Keeping Itamar is thus a "must" for the whole country's security. The Palestinian terrorists understand how essential Itamar is to Israel's safety; this is why Itamar has been a prime target of Palestinian attacks.

The Goldsmiths also provided details about Palestinian terrorists' highly planned brutal murder of the Fogel family (including both parents, two small boys and a three-month-old baby girl) on March 11, as well as other Palestinian attacks on innocent Israeli civilians in Itamar. I wish that everyone could have heard rabbi and Mrs. Goldsmith's talk, since the real story of the murder of the Fogel family is quite different from how the story was portrayed in The New York Times.

The New York Times portrayed the murders as the "unplanned" work of unaffiliated Palestinian teenagers merely bent on stealing a few weapons as a "test of courage." (NYT, 4/17/11) (Using The New York Times' standard, the 9-11 attacks on America were also merely a "test of courage" by a few teenagers.) If fact, the attack on an innocent Israeli family was carefully planned, by trained Palestinian terrorists who knew exactly how to evade the town's security systems so that they could murder innocent Jewish parents and children.

Rabbi Goldsmith explained that there was a "blind spot" in the security fence surrounding Itamar, not in view of the cameras placed on the security fence. (Israeli budget constraints kept the town from having a sufficient number of cameras.) The terrorists knew exactly where the blind spot was, and went over the fence at that location shortly after 9 p.m. on Friday evening (the Jewish Sabbath). The fence alarm sounded at the town guards' location, and the two individuals on guard duty drove to the location to investigate. The terrorists knew that the fence alarm would be triggered, and knew where to hide (in the nearby forest) until after the guards checked the fence. The terrorists also deliberately chose a rainy, overcast night for their attack, when it would be difficult to spot them. The guards saw nothing, and thinking that an animal had tripped the alarm, returned to their station.

After waiting silently in hiding for the guards to return to their station, the terrorists moved towards homes in Itamar. The Palestinian terrorists entered a home whose occupants were away for the Sabbath (the Cohen home), which had a view of the inside of the Fogel's home. The terrorists stole a gun, and then remained in the Cohen home for over an hour, watching the occupants of the Fogel home celebrating the Sabbath, and waiting until the Fogels fell asleep and would be easier to kill.

After waiting and watching for over an hour until the Fogels were quiet, the terrorists entered the Fogel home through the unlocked front door. The Palestinian terrorists then locked the front door from the inside. The Palestinians then murdered Udi (age 36) and Ruth (35), and their young sons Yoav (age 11) and Elad (age 3) and baby girl Hadas (3 months) by stabbing them to death and slitting their throats. The terrorists avoided using the guns in their possession, because gunshots would have attracted the attention of others in the town, who would have come running to the family's defense.

The Palestinian terrorists left the front door locked, and exited through a window. In order to exit through the window, the Palestinians actually stepped on the Fogel's two-year old son, who was sleeping on the sofa under blankets. This son survived because, miraculously, he did not awaken while he was being stepped upon, and was not noticed by the terrorists.

The terrorists returned to Awarta through the same "blind spot" in the security fence through which they had entered Itamar. The fence alarm rang again, but the terrorists were nowhere in sight when the guards reached the blind spot in the fence to investigate.

The Fogel's older daughter Tamar (age 12) came home at around midnight, and was frightened when she saw that the front door was locked, and that muddy footprints led from the open window. She ran to a neighbor for help. The neighbor helped her open the door. Tamar then entered the house, and found her parents, little brothers and baby sister murdered, in pools of blood - a horrific scene.

Read the whole thing. There are things in there (like the drills for the coastal cities) that I have not seen anyplace else.

Labels: Fogel family massacre, Itamar, Liz Berney, Moshe Goldsmith, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:38 PM