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Officials: Jewish extremists may crash plane on Temple Mount
Israeli security officials have recently become increasingly concerned that right-wing extremists might be plotting an attack on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to derail Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The Shin Bet security service and the police are preparing for a number of possible terror attack scenarios at the sacred Old City site, Israeli security sources said on Saturday night.
Speaking on the Channel Two "Meet the Press" program yesterday, Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi confirmed that the security establishment had identified rising intent among right-wing extremists to carry out a Temple Mount attack.
"There is no information about specific individuals, because the Shin Bet and police would not let them continue [with their plot]," said Hanegbi. "But there are troubling indications of purposeful thinking, and not detached philosophy... There is a danger that [extremists] would make use of the most explosive site, in the hope that a chain reaction would bring about the destruction of the peace process."
Security sources on Saturday night said possible actions included an attempt to crash a drone packed with explosives on the Temple Mount, or a manned suicide attack with a light aircraft during mass Muslim worship on the Mount. Other possibilities include an attempt by right-wing extremists to assassinate a prominent Temple Mount Muslim leader, perhaps from the Waqf Islamic trust.
Israeli security sources speculate that the assassination scenario might be chosen, even though it would not cause mass injury or damage to the Al-Aqsa mosque or the Golden Dome shrine. The aim of the Temple Mount attack conspiracy, they said, would be to carry out a visible provocation that sparked violent confrontation in the territories.
Due to stringent security routines at the Temple Mount, Israeli security officials said Saturday, right-wing extremists would find it virtually impossible to use conventional routes to penetrate the site with explosives. Hence, the possibility of a large bomb being planted at one of the Muslim holy sites is "a lower-level possibility."
Saturday's disclosures about possible Temple Mount terror plans were preceded in recent months by a number of troubling indications. Nine months ago a suspect in a Jewish underground terror group affair, Shahar Dvir-Zeliger, told authorities a prominent West Bank settler activist had planned a Temple Mount attack. Zeliger cited two other names of West Bank settlers, suggesting the two were involved in the Temple Mount attack conspiracy.
Last Thursday, the Temple Mount Faithful group petitioned the High Court, asking to be given clearance to go up to the Holy Site for prayers later this week for Tisha B'Av.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/455441.html
"There is no information about specific individuals, because the Shin Bet and police would not let them continue [with their plot]," said Hanegbi. "But there are troubling indications of purposeful thinking, and not detached philosophy... There is a danger that [extremists] would make use of the most explosive site, in the hope that a chain reaction would bring about the destruction of the peace process."
Security sources on Saturday night said possible actions included an attempt to crash a drone packed with explosives on the Temple Mount, or a manned suicide attack with a light aircraft during mass Muslim worship on the Mount. Other possibilities include an attempt by right-wing extremists to assassinate a prominent Temple Mount Muslim leader, perhaps from the Waqf Islamic trust.
Israeli security sources speculate that the assassination scenario might be chosen, even though it would not cause mass injury or damage to the Al-Aqsa mosque or the Golden Dome shrine. The aim of the Temple Mount attack conspiracy, they said, would be to carry out a visible provocation that sparked violent confrontation in the territories.
Due to stringent security routines at the Temple Mount, Israeli security officials said Saturday, right-wing extremists would find it virtually impossible to use conventional routes to penetrate the site with explosives. Hence, the possibility of a large bomb being planted at one of the Muslim holy sites is "a lower-level possibility."
Saturday's disclosures about possible Temple Mount terror plans were preceded in recent months by a number of troubling indications. Nine months ago a suspect in a Jewish underground terror group affair, Shahar Dvir-Zeliger, told authorities a prominent West Bank settler activist had planned a Temple Mount attack. Zeliger cited two other names of West Bank settlers, suggesting the two were involved in the Temple Mount attack conspiracy.
Last Thursday, the Temple Mount Faithful group petitioned the High Court, asking to be given clearance to go up to the Holy Site for prayers later this week for Tisha B'Av.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/455441.html
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Demonstrators taking part in a support rally for Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip will try to form a 90-kilometer-long "human chain" between Gush Katif and the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday.
Organizers predict that more than 100,000 people will take part in the event, spreading out from the Nissanit settlement in Gaza to Jerusalem.
The human chain could disrupt traffic between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for a short time. At 7 P.M., when the chain is scheduled to be completed, the demonstrators will sing the "Hatikvah" anthem.
At least 30 Knesset members have promised to take part, including some 15 from the Likud, as well as others from the National Religious Party, the National Union, Shas, and United Torah Judaism. Delegates from the settlers' Yesha Council will demonstrate at Jerusalem's Safra Square. Also expected to take part are new immigrants from the United States who arrived in Israel just a week ago, former Prisoners of Zion from the former Soviet Union, disabled Israel Defense Forces veterans, and Israelis whose relatives are buried in Gush Katif.
The rally organizers have issued a statement declaring that "in every sense - in security,
democratic, cultural, moral and Jewish terms - the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif would cut a link in Israeli society's spinal cord."
A circular to be distributed to participants explains that a struggle must be waged to persuade politicians that the disengagement plan is wrong. This struggle, the document explains, should be "active and forceful on the one hand," and "nonviolent" on the other hand.
"History provides many examples of an active, nonviolent goal accomplishing its mission," it says. "Violence is the weapon of the weak who are not sure of themselves. People of truth act with strength that derives from the justice of their goals ... This chain will express a strong, determined public voice sounded by all sectors of the population, and from all parts of the country."
The human chain is scheduled to be formed between 5 P.M. and 7 P.M. Rally organizers note that while the long chain is formed in Israel, shorter human chains are to be formed overseas, including in the U.S., with the help of local Chabad activists.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/455466.html
Organizers predict that more than 100,000 people will take part in the event, spreading out from the Nissanit settlement in Gaza to Jerusalem.
The human chain could disrupt traffic between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for a short time. At 7 P.M., when the chain is scheduled to be completed, the demonstrators will sing the "Hatikvah" anthem.
At least 30 Knesset members have promised to take part, including some 15 from the Likud, as well as others from the National Religious Party, the National Union, Shas, and United Torah Judaism. Delegates from the settlers' Yesha Council will demonstrate at Jerusalem's Safra Square. Also expected to take part are new immigrants from the United States who arrived in Israel just a week ago, former Prisoners of Zion from the former Soviet Union, disabled Israel Defense Forces veterans, and Israelis whose relatives are buried in Gush Katif.
The rally organizers have issued a statement declaring that "in every sense - in security,
democratic, cultural, moral and Jewish terms - the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif would cut a link in Israeli society's spinal cord."
A circular to be distributed to participants explains that a struggle must be waged to persuade politicians that the disengagement plan is wrong. This struggle, the document explains, should be "active and forceful on the one hand," and "nonviolent" on the other hand.
"History provides many examples of an active, nonviolent goal accomplishing its mission," it says. "Violence is the weapon of the weak who are not sure of themselves. People of truth act with strength that derives from the justice of their goals ... This chain will express a strong, determined public voice sounded by all sectors of the population, and from all parts of the country."
The human chain is scheduled to be formed between 5 P.M. and 7 P.M. Rally organizers note that while the long chain is formed in Israel, shorter human chains are to be formed overseas, including in the U.S., with the help of local Chabad activists.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/455466.html
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