Israel uncovers Jewish terrorists

Press, 7 May 1984, Page 6

Israel uncovers Jewish terrorists

NZPA-AP Tel Aviv Israeli security agents have uncovered new Jewish terrorist cells that were plotting attacks on Palestinians, in addition to cracking a “Jewish underground” that already had acted, Israel Radio said at the week-end.

The independent cells were said to be planning violence against Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank. Arrests have been made and more are expected, the ( radio reported. It did not give the number of arrests.

Thirty-five previous arrests had been reported in connection with past forays and attempted terror actions. The police imposed an official black-out on the investigation and refused to give out information.

The radio said one terror cell planned a raid on Bir Zeit College on the West Bank near Ramallah. Bir Zeit, a centre of Palestinian nationalism, has frequently been closed for up to 90 days after anti-Israel student protests. Radio reports said the police have cracked almost all unsolved attacks on Palestinians.

Two brothers from Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, said to

be members of an elite military unit, reportedly confessed to planting bombs on five Palestinian-owned buses recently and to gunning down students at Hebron’s Islamic College last July. Three students were killed and 33 wounded in the attack, the worst violence against West Bank Palestinians since Israel captured the territory in 1967.

The reports said others are believed to have taken part in these two attacks and 15 people are suspected of rigging bombs to the cars of three West Bank mayors four years ago. Two bombs exploded, severely maiming two of the Arab mayors. The attempt to bomb the buses in Jerusalem’s Arab sector recently led to the discovery of a Jewish terrorist group after an informer tipped off police before the time-bombs exploded. The bombs were set to go off during a peak travel hour and would have caused scores of casualties, Israel's news media has reported.

The Council of Jewish Settlements in the West Bank condemned the attacks during a meeting on Saturday. It decided not to give financial aid for legal

expenses, or any other support, to any suspect who may be charged with murder, Israel television reported. The television report said the council made its decision because of the damage that the attacks have done to the future of Jewish settlement on the West Bank and to the settlers’ image in Israel. The broadcast said murder indictments could be expected in the attack on Hebron Islamic College.

The new arrests seemed to point to the unearthing of an ever-widening network of groups and cells in the West Bank as the investigation by the police and Israel’s Shin Bet security service continued.

One suspect, who was released two days ago, said on Israel Radio that “we were considered political security prisoners. The conditions, I would say, were not good. They (the police) removed (Arab) terrorist prisoners from their rooms and moved us in instead. We were treated accordingly.” The released suspect was Yair Ben-Horin, a resident of the settlement of Nov in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1973. He insisted, “There is no Jewish underground.”