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Possible Revenge Killing Adds to Tension in Israel Possible Revenge Killing Adds to Tension in Israel
(about 1 hour later)
JERUSALEM — Reports of an Arab teenager being forced into a car in an East Jerusalem neighborhood early Wednesday and of a body found later in a Jerusalem forest have raised suspicions of an Israeli revenge attack, further charging the atmosphere in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.JERUSALEM — Reports of an Arab teenager being forced into a car in an East Jerusalem neighborhood early Wednesday and of a body found later in a Jerusalem forest have raised suspicions of an Israeli revenge attack, further charging the atmosphere in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.
Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said the police received a report early Wednesday of a teenager being forced into a vehicle in Beit Hanina, a Palestinian area of East Jerusalem. The police immediately put up roadblocks to try to locate the vehicle. An hour later, Mr. Rosenfeld said, a body was found in a forest near the entrance to the city.Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said the police received a report early Wednesday of a teenager being forced into a vehicle in Beit Hanina, a Palestinian area of East Jerusalem. The police immediately put up roadblocks to try to locate the vehicle. An hour later, Mr. Rosenfeld said, a body was found in a forest near the entrance to the city.
“We are checking if there is a connection,” he said, adding that the police were looking into possible criminal or nationalistic motives for the killing, including the suspicion that it may have been a revenge attack by Israelis.“We are checking if there is a connection,” he said, adding that the police were looking into possible criminal or nationalistic motives for the killing, including the suspicion that it may have been a revenge attack by Israelis.
Palestinian radio reported that a youth named Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir, 16, was “kidnapped at dawn by three settlers” and that his body was found burned in a forest.Palestinian radio reported that a youth named Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir, 16, was “kidnapped at dawn by three settlers” and that his body was found burned in a forest.
“Early in the morning, a car with several Jews came,” Muhammad’s cousin, Suleiman Abu Khdeir, said on Israel’s Army Radio. “They put him in a car by force and took him.”
The police beefed up their presence in Jerusalem after receiving the report, and helicopters could be heard in the air.The police beefed up their presence in Jerusalem after receiving the report, and helicopters could be heard in the air.
The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, condemned the murder of the boy in a statement.The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, condemned the murder of the boy in a statement.
“This is a horrible and barbaric act which I strongly condemn,” he said. “This is not our way and I am fully confident that our security forces will bring the perpetrators to justice. I call on everyone to exercise restraint.”“This is a horrible and barbaric act which I strongly condemn,” he said. “This is not our way and I am fully confident that our security forces will bring the perpetrators to justice. I call on everyone to exercise restraint.”
As news of the killing spread, clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces along the main road that links the neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Shuafat. The youths threw stones at the forces, who responded with tear gas.As news of the killing spread, clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces along the main road that links the neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Shuafat. The youths threw stones at the forces, who responded with tear gas.
There were also reports of clashes on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, where the police barred Jews from entering because of the tension, and in Pisgat Ze’ev, a Jewish settlement near Beit Hanina.
Tensions have been running high since three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped while hitching a ride home from their West Bank yeshivas on June 12, and suspicion fell on Palestinian militants. Their bodies were found in a field in the Hebron area 18 days later, and they were brought to a joint burial in the city of Modiin, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, on Tuesday.Tensions have been running high since three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped while hitching a ride home from their West Bank yeshivas on June 12, and suspicion fell on Palestinian militants. Their bodies were found in a field in the Hebron area 18 days later, and they were brought to a joint burial in the city of Modiin, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, on Tuesday.
As the funerals were underway, hundreds of extreme-right-wing protesters gathered in Jerusalem demanding that the government avenge the deaths. Chanting “Death to Arabs,” they tried to attack Arab passers-by who had to be extricated by the police. More than 40 protesters were arrested.As the funerals were underway, hundreds of extreme-right-wing protesters gathered in Jerusalem demanding that the government avenge the deaths. Chanting “Death to Arabs,” they tried to attack Arab passers-by who had to be extricated by the police. More than 40 protesters were arrested.
Even before the abduction of the Israeli teens, a spate of hate crimes had revived concerns about the so-called Price Tag movement in which right-wing Israeli extremists have for years carried out attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank and against the Israeli authorities’ efforts to curtail illegal settlement activity.
The State Department’s annual report on terrorism published this spring included Price Tag for the first time, citing a United Nations count of 400 attacks in 2013 and saying they went “largely unprosecuted.”
A spike in incidents within Israel’s 1948 borders caused further alarm: there were at least 20 such attacks in the first five months of this year, the authorities said, up from seven in 2013 and five in 2012.
Before Pope Francis’s May visit to the Holy Land, a church and offices of the Vatican’s Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem were defaced. In April, the Israeli military took over a yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement seen as a hotbed of extremism after radical settlers clashed with Israeli forces dispatched to demolish illegal buildings in Yitzhar’s outposts.
Last year, a special unit was set up in the Israel Police’s West Bank division to contend with the problem, and this spring, Israel’s top justice officials considered classifying Price Tag as a terrorist organization to give the authorities additional tools to crack down.
But security experts say the government has long been lax on Jewish extremists for fear of alienating settlement leaders and rabbis or further dividing the nation.
Amir Peretz, Israel’s environment minister, said attacks like Wednesday’s “ignite the conflict” with the Palestinians “and portray Israel in an inappropriate way.”
“We must uproot and denounce such phenomenon and we must deal with them strongly and unequivocally,” Mr. Peretz, a former Labor Party leader who is now part of the centrist Hatnua faction, said in a radio interview.
“This is now a battle over the character of the state of Israel,” he added. “A murderer is a murderer is a murderer, and he must be dealt with just like any other murderer is treated.”