'Palestinian' caught with 6 pipe bombs at Hawara road block Condi wants opened
An 18-year old 'Palestinian' was caught with six pipe bombs at the Hawara road block near Shchem (Nablus) that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has asked Israel to open. A suicide bomber was caught at the same checkpoint on May 20.
The military said the Palestinian was most likely on his way to perpetrate an attack in an Israeli city. He was arrested and transferred to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for interrogation.
Three weeks ago, another Palestinian carrying five pipe bombs, which he had attached and strapped to his chest in the manner of an explosives belt, was stopped at Hawara.
Earlier Sunday, the IDF announced that Israel had removed 10 roadblocks in southern Hebron. [We really are crazy, aren't we? CiJ]
...
Almagor, an organization representing terror victims and their families, responded to Sunday's announcement in the form of an open letter to Barak written by Nahman Zoldan, the father of Ido Zoldan who was killed several months ago by Palestinian gunmenpolicemen [Fixed that. CiJ] in the West Bank.
"As someone who has lost a son near a road at the hands of Palestinian Authority members, I call on you to reconsider the decision and not to take at face value the Palestinian Authority's promise that it will take care of our security for us.
"I issue this especially ahead of the coming holiday, when tens of thousands of Israelis use these roads on their way to Eilat, not knowing that these roads are now totally exposed to Palestinian movement," Zoldan wrote in a statement issued by Almagor to the media.
But we have to open those roads so that the 'Palestinians' can improve their economymurder more Jews. Eh Condi?
Suicide bomber caught at checkpoint Condi wants dismantled
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice keeps pushing Israel to dismantle its checkpoints in Judea and Samaria so that the 'Palestinians' can have 'freedom of movement.' Late last night, one of those checkpoints saved an awful lot of lives. The checkpoint in question is the Hawara checkpoint, whose removal the 'Palestinian Authority' and the US State Department have long demanded. On Monday night, a suicide bomber tried to pass through the checkpoint. IDF troops shot and killed him.
Alert IDF soldiers at a Samaria checkpoint on Monday night shot and killed a 20-year-old Arab man who had explosives strapped to his body. When soldiers spotted the explosive devices and the terrorist refused to comply with their orders, a commander on the scene opened fire to prevent what appeared to be an attempt at detonation. The incident took place at the Hawara checkpoint, 25 miles east of Herzliya.
Nineteen-year-old Corporal Michal Ya'akov is credited with raising the initial alarm. At around 8:00 pm, she ordered the Palestinian Authority resident to pass through the metal detector at the checkpoint, which sounded a beep signaling that a further search was necessary. She told him to raise his shirt, exposing several explosive devices strapped to his body in a bomb vest. Cpl. Yaakov alerted the other soldiers at the checkpoint, initiating an isolation and neutralization procedure.
The man refused orders to lie down and began to lower his arms, apparently to set off the bombs. A commander at the checkpoint then shot and killed the terrorist before he could take any further action.
Soldiers cordoned off the area where the body lay until IDF sappers called to the scene gave the all-clear signal. A vest laden with five pipe bombs was removed from the dead would-be terrorist. It remains unknown if his intention was to throw the bombs or detonate himself along with them.
Military sources expressed concern that Defense Minister Ehud Barak's order this week to remove dozens of roadblocks and checkpoints to ease travel restrictions for Arabs will also make it easier for terrorists to reach Israel's urban centers.
Thank God we don't have more 'sacrifices for peace' this morning. But the more roadblocks Israel removes, the greater the risks that we will have more 'sacrifices' eventually. The 'Palestinians' aren't interested in peace. They are interested in murdering as many Jews as possible. It's high time that members of the Bush administration (other than the President himself - watch the video at that link) and the staffs of the Presidential candidates wake up to that reality.
Four days before Ben Yosef Livnat HY"D (May God avenge his blood) was murdered outside of Joseph's tomb in Shchem (Nablus), he led a group of 30 Breslov Hasidim to the tomb. Tagging along was YNet reporter Akiva Novick, who filed this report.
The fear kicked in a few moments after crossing Hawara checkpoint. The dogs barking behind you and the green lights of the mosques ahead indicated we were on our way to Nablus, the so-called "terror capital."
Everything in this city makes you feel unwelcomed. The graffiti on the walls, Shahid ("martyr") posters hanging in the streets. You are frightened even when driving with five other people in a small car, singing aloud.
...
Around 30 Breslov Hasidim met in a spring located south of Nablus, in the West Bank. This is their semi-secret meeting place where they gather to bathe before the journey begins.
It was nearly 2 am on Thursday. The group's last visit to Nablus before the fatal shooting incident which claimed Livnat's life – and I was along for the ride. We stood by the spring with our six vehicles. In the valley below us we spotted an IDF force at Hawara checkpoint, in charge of preventing worshipers from entering the holy city.
Our group leaders, including Livnat, huddled around and came up with a plan to mislead the soldiers. It was decided that one car would attempt to pass the checkpoint with its lights turned off, to see whether the IDF actually blocked off the entrance. It was now 2:55 am.
...
Livnat broke the law when he entered Joseph's Tomb without authorization, but that is not the reason he was killed. It is deeper than that. Joseph's Tomb is a sensitive subject in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Livnat was killed because he was part of the battle to control the holy site. Everybody wants to renovate it, preserve it – but those who try the hardest are the Breslov Hasidim, and Livnat was one of their most vigorous standouts.
On our way to Jerusalem we passed by the Palestinian town of Awarta, where the Fogel family killers came from. We entered. It turned out this is where Aaron's sons, Ithamar and Eleazar, are buried as well as the seventy Elders.
An Egged bus traveling through the 'Palestinian' village of Harawa in northern Samaria came under fire on Tuesday morning. You won't read about it in any mainstream media, because thank God no one was hurt.
Terrorists opened fire Tuesday on a bus that was traveling through the village of Hawara, south of Shechem, in Samaria.
No one was hurt.
Large police and army forces
arrived on the scene, and located a bullet lodged in the bus's luggage
compartment. The security forces are combing the area in search of the
shooter.
A similar attack took place in Hawara less than three weeks ago.
Just another morning preparing for 'peace talks'....
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud BarakUS Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered the removal of three key roadblocks that have reduced Israeli security in Judea and Samaria to a bare minimum.
Arutz-7's defense correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that the three are: Between Ramallah and Beit El; the southern entrance to Hevron; and north of Shechem. Each has its own story, as follows.
The Beit El - Ramallah Checkpoint
One of the three is between the large PA-controlled city of Ramallah and the entry road leading to Beit El, home to nearly 7,000 Jews, including students of all ages in its various schools.
The IDF expressed strong objections to the removal of this checkpoint. IDF Central Region Commander Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni and Judea/Samaria Region Division Head Brig.-Gen. Noam Tivon explained to Barak that the removal would allow free and unhindered Arab traffic on the old north-south highway to Shechem - adjacent to IDF bases and homes in Beit El.
The IDF officials reminded Barak, to no avail, that shots were fired at Beit El in the past from this highway. They also told him that the nearby intersection between Ramallah and Beit El was the site of violent Arab riots when the Oslo War broke out in late 2000, and at least two separate lynchings were attempted against Jews there.
Huberman reports that the reason the local Arabs want the checkpoint removed is not for their convenience, because another north-south road is available just dozens of meters to the west. Rather, they have a symoblic need to have their "capital" city of Ramallah to be as open as possible.
"The checkpoints are a most significant factor in the war against Palestinian terrorism," a top IDF officer told Huberman, "in thwarting attacks, in catching wanted terrorists, and in intercepting weapons... The number of checkpoints in Judea and Samaria at present is the absolute minimum necessary for Israeli security. Taking off even one more will lower the security level to 'below the red line' of risk."
In her press conference today with Abu Mazen, Rice said that the measure is not how many checkpoints Israel removes but the effect on 'Palestinian' lives. The fact that her 'non-counting' could yet cost a lot of Israeli lives - God forbid - does not appear to be a major concern.
Northern Exit from Shechem - Open
The second critically strategic checkpoint removed by Barak's orders was Checkpoint 408, dismantled on Monday at the northern entrance to the north-Shomron city of Shechem (Nablus).
Barak told the IDF that he needed one checkpoint removed from the Shechem area, and that the IDF should choose which one. The IDF chose, as the least of the evils, the only checkpoint that is not situated on a road leading directly to a Jewish town. Thus, the Hawaracheckpoint - whose removal the Palestinian Authority has long demanded - remains in place, protecting the Jews of Yitzhar and nearby towns. Similarly, the checkpoint near Shavei Shomron has not been touched.
However, the removal of the northern Shechem checkpoint effectively ends the IDF's encirclement of Shechem, which is known as one of the PA's top terrorism centers. The encirclement prevented the terrorists from leaving the city freely, and was an important factor in the decrease of Shechem-based terrorism. Terrorists can now travel freely from Shechem to Jenin via Tubas, as well as throughout most of the vast expanses of the northern Shomron.
IDF vehicles traveling east-west between Shavei Shomron and Mt. Eval will now encounter unchecked potential terrorists traveling on the north-south route, Huberman notes.
Yata-Hevron Road - Open
A third checkpoint that is about to be removed, at Barak's orders, is located just south of Hevron, at what is known as Kvasim Junction near the hostile Arab village of Yata. Though the army did not oppose the opening of this intersection, it should be remembered that in early 2003, three soldiers were murdered by terrorists who escaped to Yata via the unprotected Yata-Hevron route.
I can't wait to hear Condi's reaction when - God forbid - there's a major terror attack. This is unbelievable.
Good news: Machsom Watch banned from Nablus area checkpoints
The IDF has declared the checkpoints around Nablus and their immediate vicinities closed military zones. The effect is to ban Machsom Watch from harassing the soldiers at the checkpoints.
The IDF on Wednesday banned Israeli civilians from entering checkpoints around Nablus, in a move aimed at ending the presence of Israeli left-wing activists at the sites, who the army says have interfered with soldiers tasked with carrying out security checks.
The move has been slammed as a violation of the Geneva Convention by the Israeli organization Mahsom (Checkpoint) Watch, which is comprised of 400 women volunteers who regularly travel to the checkpoints.
OC Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni signed a degree on Wednesday turning the checkpoints of Ma'aravim, Hawara, Awarta and Beit Furik, all situated around Nablus, into closed military zones, and off limits to Israeli civilians.
"In Nablus, the situation has become intolerable," an IDF source told The Jerusalem Post. "The soldiers are unable to proceed with their duties because of interruptions."
The army source stressed that the decrees will apply to all Israelis "irrespective of ideology," adding that security was the central consideration behind the move.
But Raiya Yaron, Spokeswoman of Machsom Watch, told the Post that members of her organization "do not come to the checkpoints to provoke the soldiers."
Let's take a look at a video from Machsom Watch's web site and you can decide whether this 'lady' is trying to harass the soldiers (you won't see her face). This video was filmed at the Beit Furik checkpoint, which is one of the checkpoints affected by today's order, and it was taken in 2008. The blond female soldier you will see in the video (with bulletproof vest and an extra bulletproof covering for her throat) is mostly likely 18-20 years old. Her 'commander' might be 22-23. The Machsom Watch 'activist' is likely an adult. I'll let you judge for yourselves whether the 'activist' is trying to harass the soldiers and prevent them from doing their jobs.
Let's go to the videotape.
This would never have happened with Ehud Olmert in power. As some of you may recall, Olmert's daughter Dana is a member of Machsom Watch.
Terrorist released for Gilad offered $60K to another 'Palestinian' to open fire on Israelis
A 'Palestinian' terrorist released as part of the 'terrorists for Gilad' trade offered another 'Palestinian' from Nablus (Shchem) $60,000 to open fire on Israeli soldiers and civilians. Fortunately, the 'Palestinian' from Nablus was caught by Israel's General Security Service (Shin Bet) before he could carry out the attack.
The suspect, Amir Brakhat, 24, had made the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca,
where he met Amir Dukan, a convicted terrorist from Nablus who had been
released by Israel to Gaza, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said.
Dukan
offered Brakhat 60 thousand dollars in exchange for opening fire on
Israeli traffic near Nablus, or hurling a grenade at the IDF checkpoint
located in Hawara, the investigation revealed.
"Upon his return,
Brakhat got in touch with Dukan and said he was prepared to carry out
the attack. He tried to obtain a gun," the Shin Bet said.
"This
investigation again illustrates the attempts by terrorist organizations
to promote their activity in the West Bank, through the increased use of
ex-prisoners released in the 'Schalit deal,'" the Shin Bet added.
"In
this context, the Umrah is exploited for meetings on Saudi territory,
for the passing of messages, ideas, and plans to carry out acts of
terrorism," it said.
The security agency has observed an increase
in the number of terror plots involving ex-security prisoners who are
among 1200 former prisoners released by Israel in 2011 in exchange for
the release of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, who was being held captive in
Gaza by Hamas.
Aren't you glad we did the 'terrorists for Gilad' trade? But wait, that's not all Mr. Dukan is up to.
The Shin Bet also announced on Wednesday that it arrested two men on
suspicion of attempting to smuggle Hamas money earmarked for terrorism
from Jordan to the West Bank. The money originated from the same Amir
Dukan who is the center of the first investigation, the investigation
found.
The men had hidden 10,000 Euros and 900 dollars in cigarette cartons.
More Judea and Samaria roads to be opened to 'Palestinians'
A day after the 'Supreme Court' ruled that the government and the IDF must open Route 443 to 'Palestinian' traffic, the government is preparing to argue in court against opening the remaining 59 kilometers of highway that are currently closed to that traffic due to security concerns.
According to the B'Tselem advocacy organization, there are still 59 kilometers of roads in the West Bank that are off limits to Palestinian traffic. Most notably are the roads that link the Palestinian village of Hawara with the settlement of Elon Moreh, the road that connects the Palestinian town of Salfit with Road 5 and the Kedar road near Ma'aleh Adumim.
Officials said that the Defense Ministry's legal department was preparing defenses for expected petitions by human rights and advocacy organizations against the closure of these roads to Palestinian Authority traffic.
I don't think the government has a shot in hell of getting the 'Supreme Court' to approve keeping those roads closed. Consider the arguments for keeping Route 443 closed that none of these other roads has.
The road was closed to such traffic in 2002 following a spate of terror attacks along the road that killed six people. Until then, the road had served as many as 55,000 Palestinians living in several villages along the length of the highway, including Beit Sira, Safa, Beit Ur a-Tahta and Khirbet el-Misbah.
...
The court gave the IDF five months to make preparations to open a 14-kilometer section of Road 443 that is between two checkpoints - one called Maccabim near Modi'in, and the other on the opposite side near Jerusalem. To ensure the safety of Israeli drivers, the IDF will likely increase its presence on the highway and erect additional watchtowers to deter and spot potential attackers.
"This is a matter of strategic importance since this is one of only two highways that connects Jerusalem with the center of the country," one IDF source said Wednesday. "We need to make sure that it is safe and open at all times."
In addition to potential shooting attacks on the road, the IDF is also concerned with the possibility that Palestinian terrorists will plant improvised explosive devices near the highway. Two weeks ago, security forces discovered the remains of an IED - made of a gas balloon and firecrackers - that had gone off along the road.
Fortunately, in the Israeli system, you don't need a constitutional amendment to overrule the 'Supreme Court.' The answer to this ruling is legislative and not more judicial proceedings.
Right-wing MKs sprang into action in the wake of the High Court decision, with MK Moshe Matalon (Israel Beiteinu) proposing a private member's bill that would annex "the road known as 443 into the authority of the State of Israel as was done with the annexation of the Golan Heights."
At that point, 443 would not be considered by Israel to be part of the West Bank, and thus Israel would not be obligated to allow Palestinians without Israeli identity cards to drive on the road, he said.
MK Danny Danon (Likud) also tried to find a legislative solution to the Supreme Court ruling, by calling on the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to meet to discuss the implications "and to find a suitable solution."
If the committee does not hold an urgent hearing on the subject, Danon threatened that he, too, would submit legislation that would allow a security or diplomatic body to bypass the High Court on the decision.
The Knesset is currently controlled by mostly sane people. The Knesset should do whatever needs to be done to keep this decision from ever being implemented. Before someone - God forbid - gets killed out there.
Are you wondering why Israel still has those checkpoints that restrict 'Palestinian' movement throughout Judea and Samaria? Here's why:
Two Palestinian youths were arrested at the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus on Friday after troops on duty discovered they were carrying three bombs.
A Border Police sapper detonated the explosives without incident, and the youths were detained for interrogation.
Before I go to this story - for those of you abroad who have children in yeshivoth and seminaries here, they are all under lockdown under war rules.
Meanwhile, both of my Israeli daughters are out with friends tonight....
A group of worshipers is trapped by Arab rioters inside the fortress-like Rachel's tomb.
Tazpit News reports that for the past two hours an Arab mob has been rioting outside Rachel’s Tomb in Betlehem.
According to reports there are three Jewish groups under siege inside
the structure and the police is ordering them to stay put, for fear of
getting hurt.
The Arabs are throwing rocks and firebombs at the compound.
Since this morning, throughout Judea and Samaria, there have been
demonstrations and violent marches of thousands of Arabs, to mark the so
called “Palestinian Independence Day.” On this day in 1988 a symbolic
declaration of independence was made by the late Chairman Yasser Arafat.
The Judea and Samaria rescue center reported that near the community
of Efrat in Gush Etzion two Jews were lightly injured by shrapnel when
Arabs threw stones at vehicles and one used vehicle was shattered.
Between Beit El and Ofra Arabs blocked route 60 and damaged Jewish
owned vehicles. Ariel Koren, whose vehicle was attacked, told the Jewish
Voice that he was barely able to escape.
“Dozens of Arabs and leftist anarchists with cameras and flags
blocked the road and began to throw stones at my car and beat on it with
the poles of their flags,” Koren relayed. “I pressed the gas pedal and
managed to pass through, but they smashed the left windshield and broke a
mirror.”
A Jewish female motorist driving behind Koren was also attacked with stones.
Hundreds of Arabs marched earlier in the Samaria village of Hawara,
armed with flags and drums, in an event that had been approved and
secured by the IDF.
The Judea and Samaria rescue center reported this morning that Arabs
threw stones at a military post in Beit Omer in Gush Etzion, near the
Arab town of Tekoa. dozens of Arabs gathered and threw stones at Jewish
owned vehicles, and at the Ne’alim checkpoint hundred of Arabs who
arrived in buses rioted and threw stones at the soldiers.
And most of that started before tonight's events. Hmmm.
State Department trying to take advantage of Olmert's weakness
The US State Department is apparently trying to take advantage of the Olmert-Peretz-Livni government's weakness and has presented a series of "acceleration benchmarks" for an "Agreement on Movement and Access" (AMA) between Israel and the 'Palestinian' Authority. The benchmarks include specific, inflexible dates and have no requirement for one party to comply with its obligations before the other has to act.
The officials raised concerns Israel was being asked to ease restrictions on Palestinian movements without assurances that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has completed his own commitments on security.
While Israel appeared prepared to lift restrictions in the West Bank starting in mid-May, it has serious reservations about other demands, including one that would allow Palestinian bus convoys to travel between Gaza and the West Bank by July 1, officials said.
"Some of the ideas Israel is already implementing, others are already well advanced, and there are some that Israel will not be able to address in the present because of security concerns," an official in Olmert's office said.
Officials in the defense establishment object to several issues in the document, especially the demand to expand the operation of the passages in the Gaza Strip and the removal of many roadblocks in the West Bank.
These officials believe that the benchmarks involve security risks.
Israel has not responded officially to the document and an inter-ministerial discussion on it was postponed on Thursday.
...
The document was written by the U.S. security coordinator, Major General Keith Dayton, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dick Jones and U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem Jacob Walles.
It was sent to Washington, where it was approved by Secretary of State Rice before it was presented to Israel and the PA. However, both Israel and the PA's official answer to the document is still pending.
Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the PA has accepted the document, but it fears that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will sabotage the turning of it into an agreement due to his precarious political situation.
If both sides accept the document it will become a binding agreement.
...
The document demands, among other things, that Israel approve and support in an "immediate and ongoing" manner the requests of U.S. security coordinator Dayton for the provision of required armaments, ammunition and equipment for security forces under the control of and reporting to the PA chairman in the West Bank and Gaza.
Each clause is accompanied by a precise timetable for implementation. For example, Israel and the PA are required to establish, no later than July 1, 2007, a bus convoy service operating five days a week between the Erez checkpoint at the entrance to the Gaza Strip and the Tarqumiya roadblock at the entrance to Hebron for passengers from Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel is required to remove specific roadblocks and other traffic and movement restrictions in the West Bank at specified dates. For example, Israel must remove restrictions and provide access no later than June 1, 2007 in the Bethlehem 1 and 2 clusters, in the Hebron clusters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, in Nablus clusters 1, 2, 3 and 4 and in the Tubas 1 cluster.
It must remove roadblocks in the Nablus area and specifically the ones in Beit Iba, Hawara, Awarta, Shavei Shmoron and Beit Foriq no later than June 15.
However, the timetable in the document is not entirely relevant as the measures in it were scheduled to begin on May 1.
Rice agreed on formulating the document during her last visit in Israel and the PA. The Palestinians received the document last Wednesday, April 25. Senior Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the PA accepts its principles, although the PA has not given Washington an official answer yet.
The PA and mainly its defense forces and national security adviser Mohammed Dahlan are required to take a series of clear steps, limited by a timetable.
Dahlan is required to develop a plan against Qassam rockets with the support of Abbas no later than June 21, 2007. The president must deploy these forces no later than that date.
The Palestinian forces are required to act to prevent arms smuggling in the Rafah area in coordination with Israel.
Abbas and Dahlan must subject the defense forces to the PA chairman by June 15.
Both Israel and the Palestinians are required to reestablish the coordination and liaison headquarters in the West Bank.
The full original document may be found here. Rice is scheduled to return to Israel on May 15 to 'discuss' it.
Arutz Sheva calls the plan a 'timeline to terror' and fears that Israel will be required to fulfill its obligations even if the 'Palestinians' do not fulfill theirs (which is what has happened in every 'agreement' until now). Arutz Sheva notes that the actions in the AMA are essentially a rehashing of the now-tattered 'road map.'
The Bush administration nonetheless insists that the eight-month plan will bring a win-win situation for all parties.
Secretary Rice expresses confidence that the specific deadlines will create a firm structure in a process that has not moved forward despite years of efforts by various U.S. governments.
A senior U.S. official commented the plan provides incentives on both sides – “One side gets security. The other side gets greater [freedom] of movement.”
Israeli officials aren’t so sure; Jerusalem noted that Israel is being told to erase security measures without first making sure that Abbas can keep his promises to ensure security for Israelis at the same time.
As an unnamed Israeli official pointed out, “There is not (sic) conditionality. Even if they don’t complete their obligations, we’ll have to complete ours.”
Israel's insecurity cabinet is to meet this morning on expanding the hudna from Gaza to Judea and Samaria. The IDF has strongly recommended against expanding the hudna, but the Olmert-Peretz-Livni government is more concerned with 'world opinion' and the 'need' to relieve the 'Palestinian' manufactured 'humanitarian situation' in Judea and Samaria, than it is about a few more dead Jews.
The security cabinet is to hold a debate Sunday on whether to expand the Gaza Strip cease-fire to the West Bank, with senior security officials warning that such a move could lead to a spike in terrorism.
To back their argument that continued IDF activity was necessary in the West Bank, senior IDF sources in the Central Command said that last week alone Palestinians tried smuggling some 10 pipe bombs out of Nablus through the Hawara Checkpoint, south of the city.
"The terror here never stops and only grows," one officer said of the West Bank. "The only way to keep it under control is by retaining our presence in the territory."
According to statistics released by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (CSS), there were 287 terror attacks including shootings, Kassam rocket attacks, stabbings and roadside bombs in November, in comparison to 172 in October, 115 in September and 151 in August.
A cease-fire in the West Bank would most likely mean an end to IDF arrest raids in Palestinian towns, like the one in Nablus last week during which security forces uncovered a number of stuffed animals filled with explosive charges, IDF sources said.
The sources estimated that in addition to a cessation of military operations, the cease-fire would also include the removal of checkpoints outside some Palestinian cities.
A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office said Saturday night that the security issue was one very important consideration to weigh in deciding whether to expand the cease-fire, but other considerations would also be raised at the meeting - including international opinion and the need to relieve the humanitarian situation in the West Bank.
Diplomatic officials said there was a growing sense in some capitals that there was currently diplomatic momentum that needed to be harnessed, stemming from the Gaza cease-fire and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Sde Boker speech.
In the meantime, the hudna in Gaza is so effective that another Kassam rocket struck near a Kibbutz in the Negev this morning. The IDF is not responding. YNet is counting that one as seven since the hudna started, which means that they are not counting the ones that fell in the first couple of hours last Sunday.
Benjamin Bright-Fishbein, who it turns out is an intern at the Jerusalem Post, told the Post today about his harrowing experience in Shchem (Nablus) on Saturday night. After reading the article, you have to wonder how bright he is. For those of you who are here or who have children here, please realize that this is the Middle East and don't go doing stupid things like wandering off into 'Palestinian' cities:
A US exchange student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Bright-Fishbein - who had spent the past month working as an intern at The Jerusalem Post - went to Nablus on Saturday because he said he had heard it was an "interesting city."
But while sitting in a coffee shop sipping Nablus-brewed coffee and smoking a nargila water pipe, Bright-Fishbein said he was approached by a man named Ahmed who at gunpoint kidnapped him.
News of the abduction reached the defense establishment late Saturday night and fearing that the captive was an Israeli Jew, the IDF alerted elite units who were put on standby in preparation for a possible rescue operation. Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) field officers began frantically calling their sources and contacts in the Palestinian territories to try to uncover Bright-Fishbein's whereabouts.
Earlier in the night, the kidnappers had transferred a videotape to Reuters which showed the 20-year-old student wearing a kippa, holding his Hebrew University ID and saying that he had been abducted. On the tape, Bright-Fishbein said his captors had threatened to kill him if Israel did not release Palestinian prisoners.
In the end however, at close to 2 AM, after apparently realizing they were holding a US citizen, the captors handed Bright-Fishbein over to the PA Preventive Security Service which then transferred him to the IDF at the Hawara Checkpoint.
"He (Ahmed) had a pistol, a grenade and a machinegun," Bright-Fishbein recollected following his release. "I didn't want to be in his company, but it seemed I didn't have any choice at that point."
"I had the feeling they were in over their heads," he told Israeli security officials after he was released into their custody a bit shaken-up but unharmed and in overall good condition. The kidnappers, the IDF said, were affiliated with the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.
An IDF source said that Fishbein's US citizenship had saved his life since the "last thing the Palestinians want is to open a new front against the Americans." Had the kidnappers succeeded in abducting an Israeli national the outcome, the source said, would have been very different. "Their decision to release him was because they didn't want to deal with the hot potato otherwise known as the US," the source added.
Commander of the Samaria Brigade Col. Yuval Bazak called Sunday morning on all foreigners to refrain from entering the Palestinian territories. Israelis are forbidden from entering Palestinian-controlled cities like Nablus but foreigners are allowed to visit although at their own discretion. Bazak said that the threat of kidnappings was a "real danger" throughout the entire West Bank but particularly in the Nablus area.
In the aftermath of last night's murder of four Israelis outside of Kedumim, the IDF has 'increased security restrictions on the 'Palestinians.' HaAretz reports that the restrictions include a prohibition against 'Palestinian' males between 15 and 32 from passing through the Hawara and Beit Iba checkpoints in the Nablus area, and that the IDF is keeping 'Palestinians' from reaching Nablus from the direction of Tul Karm and Jenin. The army is also conducting a full-body search of any Palestinian who passes through those checkpoints, Israel Radio reported.
This morning, the IDF arrested the brother of the suicide bomber southeast of Hebron, and another 'Palestinian' in the Nablus area who was allegedly involved in the attack.
Two of the four Israelis killed were an elderly couple - Rafi and Helena Halevy - who lived in Kedumim for 20 years. Their funeral was scheduled to be held in Kedumim on Sunday. They are survivied by their four children, one of whom is a Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF.
Another victim was Reut Feldman, a 20-year-old woman from Herzliya who volunteered for national service in Kedumim. Her funeral was planned to be conducted later on Friday following a definite identification of the body.
The fourth victim has not yet been identified, but according to HaAretz he was a 16-year old boy who lived in Kedumim.
The Jerusalem Post reports that the suicide bomber was identified as 24-year-old Ahmad Mashrake. He was released from a Palestinian prison less than one month ago.
The Aksa Martyrs' Brigades took responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the terrorist group said that Israel should prepare a large amount of body bags for the terrorist attacks that his organization planned to execute if Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert continued with his plans.
He warned that the Aksa Brigades could reach any point in Israel, and that they had a lot of potential suicide bombers on call, ready to attack.
I was kind of hard on Benjamin Bright-Fishbein the other day for going to a Shchem (Nablus) coffee house to drink coffee and smoke a nargila. But it seems that Bright-Fishbein is part of a trend of 'human rights workers' (such as ISM tools), travelers and adventurers who think hanging out in downtown Shchem is the thing to do. Should Israel be responsible for protecting these fools? They seem to think so....
An increasing number of Western travelers come here "not just to see Israel, but to see 'Israel-Palestine,'" said Jeff Halper, coordinator for the Israeli Coalition Against House Demolitions [an extreme leftist organization. CiJ]. "For them, to be in Tel Aviv and not going to Nablus is not seeing the whole picture."
Halper, whose work regularly takes him to areas of the West Bank that are considered dangerous by the IDF and the US State Department, said he felt "absolutely safe traveling" there. "Things can always happen, but they can happen in Minneapolis," he said. [I don't recall hearing of anyone being hauled from a restaurant and executed in Minneapolis lately by terrorists. Anyone from Minneapolis want to comment? CiJ]
Jeff Morency, 23, a research fellow from the University of Minnesota working in Ramallah, agreed. He has visited Nablus in the past and, despite the danger of what he termed "isolated incidents," said "I don't think twice" about going to the West Bank.
But Halper and Morency both warned that visiting the West Bank can be dangerous, especially if travelers are unprepared or unaware of the local culture. Morency said that he dresses more conservatively and tries to be respectful toward a culture in financial crisis. When traveling, he said, he always takes contact numbers of volunteers and international organizations in the area. "It's important to plan ahead and to know people, as it is when you're traveling in any new area," he said.
Halper pointed out that Bright-Fishbein put himself in danger when he visited Nablus without contacts and without people knowing why he was there. [And this would also undoubtedly be the case if I went into a restaurant in Athens or Antwerp without knowing anyone there and without having any 'contacts'.... Right.... CiJ]
"Had he contacted someone and met up with them for a cup of coffee, everything would have been fine," he said. "We generally go with Palestinians, and they always know that we're coming. We don't just go wandering around by ourselves."
Students at the Hebrew University echoed Halper's sentiment.
...
Despite the first kidnapping of an American citizen in the West Bank, the United States Embassy said that it was not planning to change the wording of its travel warning for the area. But Stewart Tuttle, spokesman for the embassy, was critical of Bright-Fishbein's actions.
"We discourage people to do what he did for the very reasons that came to pass in his case," he said. "Clearly the warning is there for a reason."
Someone should remind these people of the story of two Israeli restaurateurs from Tel Aviv. In March 2001, they went to Tulkarm to buy supplies from people they knew, and decided to have lunch in a local eatery that they apparently knew. Raed Karmi, then an 'official' in Yasser Arafat'sAbu Mazen's Fatah party, abducted them from the restaurant, took them outside and executed them. (The link is to a long document, and the story is on page 321). For no particular reason. Karmi got his 72 virgins in January 2002, courtesy of an IDF helicopter. There's a reason you're not supposed to go to Arab cities in Judea and Samaria.
Update 10:15 AM
The Post is now reporting that Benjamin Bright-Fishbein is leaving Israel today for China, and realizes that he was incredibly stupid (okay, he said "foolish," although he also said "stupid" at the end and I'm trying to be kind to him because I have this sneaking suspicion that I knew his mother growing up):
"I wanted to see Nablus," he said Tuesday, speaking outside the Reznik dorms at the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus, where he has been living for the past semester. "It seemed like an interesting place to go."
Bright-Fishbein, 20, a former Jerusalem Post intern, said he had been unaware before heading to Nablus on Saturday of the blast on a Gaza beach the previous day that killed seven people. Had he known, he said, he might have felt it prudent not to head into the West Bank.
Bright-Fishbein's Nablus experience lasted about 12 hours from beginning to end. He made his way to the city on Arab buses, starting off from Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem and transferring in Ramallah. He traveled alone, and decided en route that if anyone asked him his name he'd tell them he was "Daoud Bright" in the hope that they wouldn't think he was Jewish.
"Daoud could be a Protestant name, and Bright is Catholic," he said, adding that the kidnappers - a group of men, led by "Ahmed" - apparently believed the false name but still thought he was Jewish. "They were calling me 'Daoud' right up until they let me go," he said.
On arrival in Nablus at around 3:00 p.m., he decided to visit a coffee shop. While he smoked a water pipe, he was approached by the men, who sat down surrounding him. Ahmed, the evident leader, carried a gun, he said.
"I didn't want to talk to him, but I couldn't really do anything about it," said Bright-Fishbein. He said that Ahmed was convinced he was an Israeli Jew despite his assumed name and the New York State driver's license he was carrying. He said the kidnappers "didn't really read English" and therefore could not make out his real name on the license.
And although Bright-Fishbein had studied some Arabic in Cairo, he said he "couldn't understand Ahmed's Arabic."
Bright-Fishbein was not carrying his American passport, something he described as "a blessing and a curse." If he'd had his passport with him, he said, the kidnappers might have made more of an effort to verify his identity, which could have been problematic. On the other hand, he had no way of proving his American citizenship, something that might have shortened his captivity.
Bright-Fishbein was reluctant to give all the details of his kidnapping, which ended after it became clear that he was an American citizen whose abduction was deemed illadvised. "It was traumatic," he said. "I want to put as much distance between myself and what happened as possible."
However, he said that in some ways the experience felt empowering in retrospect. "There were points where I felt like I was in control," he said.
He said the first thing he did after being delivered to the Hawara checkpoint outside Nablus at 3:00 a.m. on Sunday was to call his father in America, who was unaware of his kidnapping. "I'm glad that he could hear it first from me, and that the first thing I could tell him was that I was safe," he said.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
An 18-year old 'Palestinian' was caught with six pipe bombs at the Hawara road block near Shchem (Nablus) that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has asked Israel to open. A suicide bomber was caught at the same checkpoint on May 20. 
