Sep
1
Written by:
Dr. Ernie Moore
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
“We saw a crying volunteer, and at first we did not understand what was happening – he has seen many disasters before,” Zaka volunteer Isaac Bernstein told The Jerusalem Post.
“Then he started shouting, ‘That’s my wife! That’s my wife!’ We took him away from the scene immediately,” Bernstein added.
Kiryat Arba vehicle
“Ben-Haim was taken to his home in Beit Hagai by his colleagues.” (J-Post)
Zaka is the organization in Israel that is tasked with recovering the bodies of terrorist attacks, car wrecks, etc. when tragedies occur.
Zaka volunteer in lower left photo during 2006 Lebanon war (Ernie Moore)
“When we arrived on the scene, all four doors of the car were open and four bodies were strewn on the road,” Magen David Adom paramedic Guy Ronen told The Jerusalem Post. “We saw that the vital organs had been struck by a very large number of bullets, and that there was no chance of saving their lives,” he added.
“It was a very difficult scene. We had learned to forget scenes like this in recent years,” Ronen said.” …
“The victims were named as Yitzhak Ames, 47, and his wife Tali Ames, 45, Kochava Ben- Haim, 37, and Avishai Schindler, 24, all from Beit Hagai. The Ames couple had six children, including a one-and- a-half-year-old toddler.” (J-Post)
WHY NOW? WHY AT ALL?
Joshua 14:15 And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims…..
The current town of Kiryat Arba is a suburb of Hebron. That famous place is the location of numberous past terrorist attacks by both Fatah and Hamas. This current one was apparently done by Hamas members. Hamas headquarters in Gaza released a congratulatory note to the killers.
But why do this heinous act now? Because Bibi Netanyahu is in Washington, DC for a White House kick off to direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The goal of the terrorists is, of course, to get Netanyahu to break off the talks and return home. That is not going to happen.
What will happen is already underway. The Prime Minister has “loosed the dogs of war.” Israel’s security forces will hunt down the perpetrators and their planners and send them to the imaginary Islamic paradise in search of their 70 virgins.
MORE ON THE ATTACK FROM THE J-POST:
Magen David Adom paramedics arrived at the scene soon after the shooting at around 7:30 p.m. and declared the four people dead. Paramedics added that one of the women may have been pregnant.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, “Shots were fired from close range at the vehicle at approximately 7:30 p.m. All four occupants of the vehicle were shot dead. Security forces are searching for the attackers.”
According to eyewitness reports, the terrorists succeeded in hitting the passengers in their initial fire, but then approached the car and shot the occupants again at close range.
Following the attack, the Israel Police Operations Branch sent out an order to all officers in the Judea and Samaria district calling on them to increase their awareness and be on the look out for potential terror attacks, while maintaining security in the area.
Barak was also briefed on the attack by Ashkenazi and Diskin.
“This is a very grave incident,” Barak said. “The IDF and Israeli security forces will do everything they can to capture the murderers.
“Israel will not allow terrorists to lift their heads and will exact a price from the murderers and those who sent them. This is likely an attempt by terrorist lowlifes to stymie the diplomatic process and to hurt the chances of the talks opening in Washington.”
Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, who is acting premier during Netanyahu’s absence, released a statement, saying that he was in close contact with Barak and with Netanyahu’s military attache and was constantly receiving updates.
“Unfortunately it has once again been proven that while we are working to find ways to advance peace and coexistence, there are those who will continue trying to commit acts of terror and murdering innocents,” Shalom said.
“Now it is clearer than ever that the real obstacles to peace are terror and the extremists who would do anything to inflame the entire region. The PA must fulfill its obligations in the territories.”
“The head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, spoke with his Palestinian counterparts and updated them regarding the attack. PA security forces were conducting their own investigation into the shooting.
“It was unclear if the attack was carried out by an established terror cell or by a small group of attackers not affiliated with a larger terrorist group.
“Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obeida told The Associated Press late Tuesday that Hamas carried out the attack.
“While the IDF apparently did not have specific intelligence regarding the Tuesday night’s shooting, there had been concern that terror groups would use the launching of direct peace talks to perpetrate attacks in the West Bank.”
Already there is a very good piece by Gil Hoffman that you should read.
It follows:
Analysis: Shots heard around the world
By GIL HOFFMAN
01/09/2010
What would Binyamin Netanyahu say if he was opposition leader, and not prime minister?
Imagine what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would have said following Tuesday's fatal terrorist attack near Hebron had he been opposition leader and not prime minister.
He undoubtedly would have called upon the prime minister to leave Washington immediately and return home to restore Israeli security. He would be saying that the attack proved that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas had no control over his people and that there was therefore no point in negotiating with him.
But prime minister is a job infinitely harder than opposition leader and Netanyahu arrived in Washington to a delicate diplomatic situation that was complicated enough before the attack. With the eyes of US President Barack Obama and the rest of the world on him, it is likely that the last thing Netanyahu considered doing upon landing in the US was staying on the plane and going right back home.
It is not the first time a terrorist attack took place while a prime minister was abroad, and it undoubtedly will not be the last. Former prime minister Ariel Sharon dealt with attacks almost every time he went abroad. When a suicide bomber blew himself up at Jerusalem's Cafe Hillel in September 2003, he cut short his trip to India and came home, but in other instances, he didn't.
The attackers intentions were to kill Jews and send a message to Abbas that he should not be negotiating with Israel. But they also tied Netanyahu's hands.
If Netanyahu was considering compromising regarding the construction moratorium in Judea and Samaria when it ends on September 26, now he has no choice but to restart building. Otherwise he would lose his security credentials in addition to his credibility, which are two essential assets for any politician.
Netanyahu's credibility was already being tested before the attack. The settlers ?we are building on your word? campaign was intended to emphasize that the prime minister's integrity was at stake.
The understated message was that breaking a promise to resume building after 10 months would actually harm chances of reaching a diplomatic agreement, because the Palestinians would know that they could not trust any of Netanyahu's future commitments.
Netanyahu is facing no serious challenge in his party, his coalition or his cabinet. He is among the most powerful prime ministers in recent memory. But being branded a liar would have caused Netanyahu great future political damage, even if politically, he could currently get away with it.
The right-wing parties in his coalition are not as right-wing as people give them credit for and they would allow him maneuverability. But the current coalition is almost certainly the only option Netanyahu has.
Kadima has said it would support the negotiations from outside the coalition but already slim chances of the party joining decrease every day as the next election inevitably approaches. Chances of the national Union party joining from the Right after talks break down are also small, because of the extremist views of party chairman Ya'acov Katz, who Tuesday called upon Netanyahu to expedite the building of the Palestinian city Rawabi, because he believes it will be settled by the mass aliya of Diaspora Jewry.
If Netanyahu does end up making serious concessions in the diplomatic process with the Palestinians, it would not be because of some inner desire to decide Israel's borders or to win a Nobel Peace Prize, as might have been true for his predecessors.
For Netanyahu, everything he does has to be seen through the prism of Iran, which is the issue that Netanyahu cares about the most. His associates say he believes he came back to power for this reason and this is why he feels he must be fully cooperating with the international community on the Palestinian issue.
Terrorist attacks like Tuesday's remind Netanyahu that Iran has Hamas, what he would call “a tentacle of Iran” at its service in both the West Bank and Gaza, and that therefore he must proceed with caution when it comes to talks about Israel relinquishing land in Judea and Samaria.
That is certainly what opposition leader Netanyahu would be telling the prime minister today.