Hebron resident in his 60s was physically unharmed after being kidnapped, held for ransom in Arab-Israeli city during business dispute.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Israel’s Yasam special operations unit and the Israeli police rescued a Palestinian man on Saturday evening, raiding a compound in an Arab city in northern Israel and arresting several suspects.

Issa Sayat, a Palestinian contractor in his 60s from the Hebron area, was kidnapped fo ransom last Wednesday near Rosh HaAyin in central Israel.

Sayat’s son called Israeli police, reporting that his father’s kidnappers were demanding a large ransom in exchange for his safe return. The incident took place within the context of an ongoing business dispute, the son said.

Shortly after the call was made on Wednesday, Israeli police arrested three men, all residents of the Arab city of Umm Al-Fahm, and seized vehicles they suspected were used in the kidnapping.

Another man was arrested the following day.

According to a Ynet report, the IDF and police collaborated in a joint effort to find Sayat, using “covert technological” means, including tracing cell phone signals, in order to locate him.

On Saturday evening, security forces raided a compound in Umm Al-Fahm, rescued Sayat, and arrested additional suspects, who were presumably holding him captive.

Sayat was physically unharmed and transported to a local police station.

Superintendent Avi Biton, commander of Israel’s Central District police, praised security and police forces in a statement for a “creative and professional investigation.”

He added that he and the police will “work to bring all those involved [in the kidnapping] to justice.”

In early December, an Israeli teenager was kidnapped from Afula and held against his will in the Arab city of Jaljulia. A video of the boy blindfolded with a gun to his head was widely circulated on social media.

The boy, who cannot be named because is a minor, is believed to be a member of a criminal organization. He was allegedly caught by a rival gang while trying to set fire to one of their vehicles.

Israeli police and an IDF special forces unit rescued the boy from the compound in Jaljulia. He was subsequently arrested and has been held without bail on charges of attempted arson for his role in trying to torch the rival gang’s vehicles.

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Travelers at Ben Gurion International Airport told to lie on the floor after Palestinian carjacker breaks through airport’s security checkpoint before being shot near Terminal 3.

By World Israel News Staff

A Palestinian Arab man who hijacked a car in central Israel sparked panic at Israel’s largest airport Sunday after he breached a security checkpoint.

The incident occurred early Sunday morning, when a Palestinian Arab man and two accomplices stole a vehicle in the Sharon district of central Israel near Tel Aviv.

In an attempt to elude authorities, the car thief drove on Route 1, the primary traffic artery linking the coastal plain to Jerusalem, which also passes by Ben Gurion International Airport.

The carjacker took the exit towards the airport, and, driving in the wrong lane against traffic, rammed through a barrier at the security checkpoint.

As the hijacked vehicle approached Terminal 3, travelers were warned of a security breach, and asked to lie down on the floor for their own safety, sparking panic in the terminal.

Airport security personnel pursuing the vehicle eventually caught up with it outside of Terminal 3, and were able to shoot and neutralize the car thief, who was lightly wounded.

After being treated on the scene, the car thief and his two accomplices were taken into custody.

“The vehicle was stopped on the road towards Terminal 3,” the Israel Airports Authority said. “The incident ended with the arrest of the vehicle’s passengers. The incident is being investigated.”

This is not the first time a Palestinian Arab driver with a stolen car has breached airport security.

In September, another Palestinian Authority resident who stole a car found himself at the Ben Gurion International Airport’s security checkpoint, ramming through a barrier before abandoning the car and fleeing on foot.

The suspect, a 35-year-old man, was arrested shortly afterwards.

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Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai has called for open fire procedures to be scrutinized.

By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News

The widow of a police officer who was killed by a Palestinian car thief lambasted Israel’s rules of engagement on Sunday, interrupting the Israeli police minister’s eulogy by lamenting, “You don’t give them permission to shoot. They are like sitting ducks.”

Barak Meshulam was the victim of a hit and run when a 17-year-old Palestinian from Ramallah rammed into a checkpoint to avoid being caught, and in doing so, he ran over the 29-year-old father of two.

Meshulam was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Kfar Saba on Sunday evening.

Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, whose ministry is in charge of the police, eulogized Meshulam to hundreds of mourners: “Tonight, Barak met the cruelest of murderers. The punishment needs to fit the crime,” he said.

He added that in the circumstances surrounding Meshulam’s death and “in any other life-threatening situation, the police officer is allowed to neutralize the potential suspect.”

Nevertheless, Meshulam’s widow Ariella began yelling at Barlev through tears about the force’s restrictive open fire policy. “Why don’t you give them permission to shoot? You do not protect them. The wives of the policemen standing here, friends of my husband, do not know if they will knock on their door tomorrow.”

“Next time you will let them shoot,” Ariella shouted at Barlev, while other mourners expressed their support, saying “She’s right!”

Unlike in the U.S., Israeli police are generally trained to “shoot to incapacitate” — generally targeting a suspect’s legs — and not to kill, and then, after first calling on the suspect to stop, following that up with warning shots fired in the air.

However, in the case of an active crime that poses a clear and present danger to either an officer or a civilian’s life, for example in the case of a terrorist attack, officers are given more leeway to open fire.

Israel’s High Court in April called on the state to “amend the regulations” of its open fire policy after an Arab-Israeli car thief was fatally shot in the back by a policeman.

According to a statement by the prosecution,  police officers have “too much leeway to shoot, even in cases that prima facie don’t justify it.” Also, the rules are not clear about when to open fire and “lack necessary restrictions that could reduce harm to human life,” Haaretz reported at the time.

In the wake of Meshulam’s death, Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said that open fire procedures will be reexamined.

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The 17-year-old car thief was captured at the end of a search with the help of a police helicopter.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

A Palestinian Arab car thief ran over and killed an Israeli policeman as he drove through a police checkpoint on Saturday night.

The 17-year-old resident of Ramallah, who was driving a stolen car, failed to stop at a police checkpoint in the Sharon area that was deployed to stop him, and while running through it, he killed Officer Barak Meshulam and then sped away. He was captured at the end of a search with the help of a police helicopter.

MDA paramedic Aviv Solomon, who treated Meshulam at the scene, recounted that the policeman “who suffered a very severe multi-system injury was unconscious. We performed medical tests but he was without signs of life and we had no choice but to determine his death. ”

Meshulam, 29 from Kfar Saba, is survived by his wife, two children, parents, and two siblings.

Chief Commissioner Yaakov Shabtail eulogized Meshulam and noted that “he has been involved in policing all his adult life for just the right motives of patriotism, and the importance of protecting the citizens of the country. The pursuit of contact flowed through Barak’s veins and it was well known to his commanders and comrades.”

“In every activity and operation, he was the first to run forward and charge. In his role, he served the citizens of the city and the region faithfully and he was an example of initiative, professionalism, and great determination,” he said.

The police have launched an investigation into the incident. All aspects are being investigated, but at the moment, it is being examined as a criminal incident.

Last month, police volunteer Amichai Carmeli was run over and killed after a vehicle that was driven by Bedouins from Rahat broke through a checkpoint near the Beit Dagan junction he was manning.

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‘Our history is being erased’ – Knesset Members call on the Israeli government to take action and protect archeological sites in Judea and Samaria from Palestinian destruction.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

The Knesset’s Education Committee held a session Monday on the damage and destruction of heritage and archeology sites in Judea and Samaria, during which Members of Knesset called on the government to formulate a plan for the preservation of archeology sites in Judea and Samaria.

Grave robbers and antiquities thieves from the Palestinian Authority (PA) carry out illegal digs and excavations. The phenomenon of antiquity destruction is pervasive and affects all sites that are not under preservation, and a survey of the sites in Judea and Samaria shows that a staggering 95% of the archeological sites have been robbed, vandalized or disturbed.

Findings presented during the session by a coalition of organizations working for the protection of Israeli antiquities show that 90% of the sites that are destroyed are being destroyed by the PA for development purposes, and 10% are destroyed for robbery purposes.

Most recently, unknown individuals from the PA have again caused damage to the Biblical-era site of Yehoshua ben Nun’s Altar on Mount Ebal.

In November 2020, the PA inaugurated a “Palestinian” tourist complex in the town of Sebastia in Samaria, the historic capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel.

Moshe Guttman, chairman of “Shomrim Al Hanetzach” (Preserving Eternity), a watchdog group dedicated to protecting Israel’s archaeological treasures, warned the Committee that “our history is being erased. We think the State of Israel is sleeping while standing up and no one is doing anything about it.”

Hanania Hizmi, Archeology Chief of Staff at the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), claimed that the data presented to the committee on the destruction of heritage sites is incorrect.

However, he said that he has “eight inspectors at our disposal and it is difficult to monitor all the sites in such a wide area. Our inspectors have investigative and detention powers. We think we need 20 more people so that we can do serious work.”

‘There is no Palestinian people’

Amir Ganor, director of a robbery unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the IAA “does not make any political distinction and every culture for us is a whole world. The situation is shocking – in Judea and Samaria, in almost every cave we entered we found a looting excavation. We work almost every night to thwart the actions of antiquities robbers.”

“If the sovereign tells us to deal with the destruction of antiquities and the robbery of sites in Judea and Samaria, we will do it with great joy and success, because we are the professional body that knows how to deal with these things,” he stated.

Hanan Erlich of the Ministry of Justice reported that his office has commenced with actions to contend with the phenomenon.

During the debate, the Jewish and Arab MKs waged a battle of words, with Arab MK Sami Abu Shehadeh claiming that “there is an erasure of the Palestinian people with a wave of the hand by a group of petty racists,” and MK Orit Strook responding “there is no ‘Palestinian people’ and that is why you are erasing the history of the Jewish people.”

Acting Chairman of the Committee, MK Moshe Tor-Paz said the committee wants to conduct an archeological survey of all the sites, “regardless of religion and heritage.”

“The committee takes seriously the state of antiquities in Judea and Samaria and seeks to compare the treatment of antiquities in Judea and Samaria with the practice of antiquities within the Green Line. The committee wants to conduct an archeological survey of all the sites, regardless of religion and heritage, and offer a plan for their preservation,” he stated.

The committee requests the establishment of the “Judea and Samaria District” in the IAA, similar to the existing model in the Nature and Parks Authority.

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Beersheba family fleeced out of thousands in cash, car, by illegal Palestinian migrant posing as a surgeon.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A con man dresses up like a doctor and convinces a family that he is the physician responsible for saving their relative’s life. The grateful family ends up losing thousands of dollars and even a car to the impostor.

It may sound like a stranger-than-fiction tale, but one family in the southern Negev city of Beersheba are the very real victims of the outlandish con.

According to an indictment obtained by Ynet, Ahmed Akila managed to fleece an unwitting family by posing as the surgeon who operated on a woman’s mother.

Wearing scrubs in what he staged as a chance meeting in a gas station, Akila, 33, approached the unnamed woman and said he remembered performing life-saving surgery on her mother at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center.

In reality, Akila had a long rap sheet for theft and fraud which earned him several prison terms. Born and raised in a Palestinian Authority-controlled city, he was illegally living in Israel.

He told the woman that he was new to the Beersheba area, and she invited him to have dinner at her home with her family the next day. Akila charmed the family during the meal, then said that he was in danger of being evicted from his apartment if he did not come up with 2,500 shekels ($800) immediately.

Moved by his predicament, the woman’s husband gave Akila 3,000 shekels in cash ($970) and said he could stay rent-free in a housing unit that he owned behind the couple’s home. Akila took him up on the generous offer, but that wasn’t enough for the conman.

The next day, the woman’s husband agreed to drive Akila to work at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. While the husband briefly stopped on the way to the medical center and left the vehicle to retrieve something from his office, Akila stole 6,000 shekels in cash which he found in the car.

Finally, the couple’s son gave Akila his Israeli identification card with the understanding that the “doctor” would help him schedule an appointment at the hospital. Akila then asked to borrow the son’s car, saying that he had been called up to work at a hospital in the center of the country.

After Akila made off with the son’s car and ID and did not return for hours, the family understood that they’d been deceived and reported the theft to Beersheba police. Several days later, he was caught by the IDF at a checkpoint in Modi’in, after presenting the son’s ID at the crossing while dressed in scrubs.

He faces charges of impersonation of another person for the purpose of fraud, theft of a vehicle, impersonation of a public employee and illegal entry into Israel, Ynet reported.

“This is a serious incident in which the defendant impersonated a doctor,” said Maj. Gen. Maor Matuk, head of the investigation from the Beersheba police, in a statement.

“He impersonated a public servant with the intent to deceive and trick people who put their trust in him. [The victims] simply believed him, because he charmed them.”

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“We want to burn you alive. That is all we are working for,” the Beita activists responsible for the effigy said.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Palestinians responsible for burning a large wooden Star of David containing a swastika in Samaria Saturday night are doubling down on their comparison of Israeli behavior to Nazism after seeing Israelis’ outrage over the incident, a Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) report said Monday.

The research institute that monitors Arab-language media for its promotion of terrorism and anti-Semitism wrote that the Facebook page “Beita Victory,” which had uploaded the original pictures of the figure being constructed and then set alight, posted another picture the next day.

In this one, a child was holding a Palestinian flag while walking on an Israeli flag and saying, “you [Israelis] are worse than Hitler and the Nazis. You have risen in crime beyond any murderer in history. You act sad about Hitler and do things worse than him.”

PMW noted that the false association of Israeli actions to Nazi atrocities has been made by Palestinian officials in their media over many years, and cited 16 separate instances in 2021 alone. Many of these references are quotes from the official Palestinian mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, whose writers have accused Israel of being “fascists,” committing “war crimes” comparable to Germany’s, and having “detention camps” for Palestinians that are “most similar to the Nazi crematoriums [sic].”

In addition, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been compared to Hitler, while current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has been charged with acting like Adolf Eichmann, chief architect of Nazi Germany’s Final Solution program.

Beita activists have been clashing with security forces at the site of the neighboring young settlement of Evyatar since it was set up in May, claiming that the land is their private Palestinian property. The 50 families that moved there after a Palestinian terrorist killed Jewish student Yehuda Guetta at the nearby Tapuah Junction had agreed to leave until the land’s status was clarified as part of a deal with the government. The rioting, however, has not stopped.

The Beita Victory page also promotes violence against Israel, said PMW.

After Israeli activist Ayelet Lash posted a picture of the star burning on Facebook and commented, “They [Arabs] want to burn us alive,” the Beita Victory page posted a screenshot of her words with the comment, “Yes, we want to burn you alive. That is all we are working for.” The PMW translators noted that the response was not a personal one, as the word in Arabic for “you” was in the plural.

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Newly gathered information could determine whether the Arab indicted for the crime will be prosecuted.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Sources close to the investigation of the rape of a seven-year-old Jewish child say that new testimony collected by the police last week could make or break the case against the sole Arab man to be indicted for the crime, Channel 2 News reported Friday.

Mahmoud Katusa was charged last Sunday with rape, assault and abduction of the Haredi youngster, who went to a school in which he worked as a part-time janitor. However, many questions surrounding the case have emerged since then, throwing the matter of his guilt into doubt.

Police reporter Moshe Nussbaum quoted sources who said that gathering the new testimony involved “a complex and sensitive operation, and it also require[d] assistance from elements in the Haredi community in the town where the girl lives.”

According to the report, and in contradiction to what is in the charge sheet, at this stage of the investigation it is believed that the child was definitely sexually abused, but it is now uncertain whether this is a case of actual rape.

One of the problems in the case is that the police did not send the girl’s underwear to a forensic lab, which might have contained the attacker’s DNA. The police have said that the relevant clothing was over a week old by the time the family reported the crime to them.

Katusa has also supplied an alibi for the day the attack allegedly took place. However, the victim’s lawyer told Arutz 7 Sunday that “The suspect lied in the polygraph” test he took.

The police again questioned several people who might be able to shed light on the facts surrounding the sensitive case, including the girl’s mother, her principal, the owner of the apartment in which the crime allegedly took place, and one of Katusa’s employers.

Regardless of whether Katusa’s detention is extended on Tuesday, or the indictment against him is withdrawn, investigators will continue their inquiries, said the report. The investigation will include a thorough review of the conduct of investigators, the school administration, the doctor who examined the girl, and the social services employees who should have reported the incident to police even before the family did.

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Problems have emerged in the case involving the rape of the 7-year-old Jewish girl by an Arab worker.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

No one doubts that the Jewish girl, 7, from the Benjamin region in Samaria was raped, but inconsistencies have led to some questioning whether the police have the right culprit, Ynet reports.

Forty-six year old Mahmoud Nazmi Abd Alhamid Katusa was indicted on Sunday.

According to the indictment, Katusa worked as a janitor and maintenance man at the elementary school which the girl attended. After winning her trust, he tried to convince her to accompany him to a nearby house. When she refused, he  took her by force.

The report says that Katusa was helped by two other Arab workers who held her as he performed his foul act. The men have not been identified and may still be working in the Jewish town where the rape took place.

But questions have arisen about the police report. Perhaps the biggest issue is the indictment’s claim that Katusa dragged the girl from the school to the apartment where she was raped. The girl cried and resisted as he pulled her along the  distance, which took 15 minutes.

A Jewish resident of the town who personally knows Katusa said in a radio interview on Tuesday night, “It does not make sense that he did it… It doesn’t add up that an Arab takes a 7-year-old girl in an ultra-Orthodox community in the center of the country for a quarter of an hour, and drags her when there are thousands of children on the street and yeshiva students who walk around in the street while she cries and resists. That does not sound right.”

“It’s not that we underestimate the seriousness of the story. We are just afraid here in the city that the attacker is still walking freely,” the resident said.

There is also a contradiction between the girl’s testimony and the police report. The girl said she was taken to the site where she was raped in “a big car.”

The case is further plagued by a lack of forensic evidence as the family of the girl waited a week before filing a complaint with the police. There was no physical evidence found that the girl had been at the scene of the crime, a home that Katusa had been helping to renovate as a part-time construction worker.

On Wednesday, Katusa’s attorney Nashef Darwish claimed, “The testimony of the doctor who examined her clearly states that there is no chance that this child was raped.”

Another matter is the date of the crime. Although the police said they know when it occurred, the date wasn’t included in the indictment after Katusa provided an alibi that put him in another place at the time it happened, Ynet reports.

Other questions surround the fact that neither the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, nor the top ranks of the police department were notified that the investigation was taking place. This is now being viewed as a major oversight given the explosive nature of the crime.

As a result of these problems, Maj.-Gen. Gadi Siso, head of the police investigations unit, will lead the investigation going forward, Ynet reports.

Israeli prosecutors will request an extension of Katusa’s detention on Wednesday.

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Here is a recap of the top Israel news stories on June 18, 2019.

And in case you missed our last recap…

The post WATCH: Daily Israel News Recap – June 18, 2019 appeared first on World Israel News.

Two accomplices helped the rapist, holding the girl down and telling her she “deserved it,” reports say.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

The plot thickens in the shocking rape of a 7-year-old Jewish girl in the Binyamin region in Samaria. The suspected rapist was reportedly helped by two accomplices who are still at large, likely working in the same town where the rape took place.

Forty-six year old Mahmoud Nazmi Abd Alhamid Katusa was indicted on Sunday at a military court outside Jerusalem for the brutal rape of the little girl following a long investigation.

Working as a janitor and maintenance man at the elementary school which the girl attended, he gradually won her trust by being friendly and giving her sweets. Nevertheless, when he asked her to accompany him to a nearby house, she refused. He then took her by force.

“I’m going to do something fun for you,” Katusa told the girl.

Katusa, however, did not act alone, according to Haim Bleicher, the attorney from the legal aid group Honenu who is representing the girl’s family.

Two other Arab workers were present at the time. They held the girl’s arms and legs and covered her eyes as she cried and begged to go home. They humiliated the girl as she was raped, saying she “deserved it,” Arutz 7 reports.

Crime location

Police say the crime took place at a house that the suspect had been renovating as a part-time construction worker. This was revealed when, a few days after Katusa was arrested on May 1, a local resident appeared at the police station inquiring as to the reasons that he’d been arrested.

When the police asked the resident why he was interested, he said that he had hired Katusa to work on his home. The police then discovered the home matched the girl’s description of the location where the rape had taken place.

Katusa’s attorney, Nashef Darwish, tried to poke holes in the investigation on Tuesday.

“After I reviewed the details of the case, I can tell you – this is the Dreyfus trial – the case will be reversed in the coming days,” he told Israel’s Channel 12 News. “I say with certainty that people are going to be shocked by the result that will be received in the coming days.”

The crime sparked a sharp reaction from Israeli politicians, several of whom called for the death penalty against the perpetrators.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted: “The shocking rape of a little girl shakes the hearts of all of us. I would like to strengthen the family. It is on the courts to exercise the full extent of the law on everyone responsible for this terrible act.”

The Lehava organization, an anti-assimilation group, blocked the entrance to the village of Deir Kadis in Samaria where the suspect lives.

Some in the media are also upset, wondering why the case was kept hidden from the press. Noam Amir, correspondent for Israel’s Channel 20, tweeted on Monday:

“Many are very angry at the scant coverage of the shocking rape story… I am more disturbed by the fact that the story was “leaked” last night … only after the indictment. How is it possible that such a shocking story does not reach the public at the time of arrest, interrogation, detention extensions??”

Yediot Ahronot reports that a source close to the family says that the parents are in terrible shape.

“It is important to them that no one know about the incident, except for the court. They are very worried ever since the incident went public. It has really affected them physically,” the source said.  “They really cannot deal with this incident. The mother is on the verge of total collapse.”

The post Arab accomplices still at large in rape of Jewish girl, 7, report says appeared first on World Israel News.

Here is a recap of the top Israel news stories on June 17, 2019.

And in case you missed our last recap…

The post WATCH: Daily Israel News Recap – June 17, 2019 appeared first on World Israel News.

Israeli authorities found four stolen Torah scrolls from a synagogue that had been vandalized in central Israel last week.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli security forces discovered four Torah scrolls hidden in a barn in a village in an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority, Arutz7 reports. The scrolls had been taken from a synagogue in Bnei Brak, which had been vandalized last week.

The scrolls were found in the village of Aqraba, southwest of Shechem (Nablus) in Samaria.

Five Arab suspects were arrested for the theft, Arutz 7 reports.

The discovery of the scrolls likely solves the mystery of who was responsible for the vandalism of the synagogue in central Israel not far from Tel Aviv. The synagogue, located in a religious neighborhood, was ransacked overnight between June 10-11.

The beadle of the synagogue told Israel Hayom last week, “We don’t know how to go forward. The safe was thought to be the best. There’s no security for anyone. The burglars came with expertise and broke into the safe,” where the Torah scrolls were kept.

Bnei Barak synagogue that had been vandalized. (Police Spokesperson’s Office)

If the investigation proves that Arabs from the PA vandalized a synagogue in central Israel, it raises serious questions of security. Also found with the scrolls was a hunting rifle and ammunition, Arutz 7 reports.

In January, another synagogue was vandalized in Jerusalem. The Torah scrolls were flung on the floor and covered in acid. Suspicion fell on secular neighbors as there have been ongoing tensions between the religious and secular in that neighborhood. No arrests were made in that case.

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Israeli police arrested a Palestinian suspect for the brutal killing of an Israeli teenage girl whose body was discovered on Thursday.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli police announced Saturday that a Palestinian suspect was arrested in Ramallah in connection with the murder of 19-year-old Israeli Ori Ansbacher, whose body was found in the woods near Jerusalem on Thursday with stab wounds.

She was buried Friday in Tekoa. Her funeral was attended by hundreds of mourners.

According to Israeli law enforcement, 29-year-old Palestinian Arafat Irfayia encountered Ansbacher south of Jerusalem and perpetrated a brutal attack on her, ultimately killing the Israeli teen.

While most details of the investigation are being withheld from the public under a court-imposed gag order, officials disclosed that Arafat was residing illegally in Israel, had served time in Israeli prison, and left his home in Hebron on Thursday with a knife, Times of Israel reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on Saturday evening, “For myself and for the entire people of Israel I would like to express condolences to the Ansbacher family and to support them during their terrible grief.”

“I commend the [Shin Bet] and Israel Police special anti-terror unit for apprehending – within a few hours – the abhorrent murderer of the late Ori Ansbacher. The long arm of Israel will reach whoever hurts us and we will settle accounts with them,” added Netanyahu.

President Reuven Rivlin also commented on the developments on Saturday evening, saying, “[We] send our prayers of consolation to the Ansbacher family and to the whole community of Tekoa for the shining light that has been extinguished by a vile hand, and for the great void that Ori – good hearted and generous of spirit – leaves behind. May her memory be a blessing.”

Rivlin added, “Personally and on behalf of all Israelis, I would like to thank the security forces for capturing the despicable terrorist who murdered Ori Ansbacher.”

“We will seek out the perpetrators and their associates until we find them and punish them to the fullest extent of the law, in every place and wherever they hide from us,” he concluded.

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“The Security Council has the responsibility and moral duty to make a clear condemnation of this barbaric murder,” said Danon in response to the tragic killing of an Israeli teen.

By World Israel News Staff

Following the murder of 19-year-old Israeli Ori Ansbacher, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called for an urgent meeting with the president of the U.N. Security Council, Anatolio Ndong Mba of Equatorial Guinea.

“Condemn the barbaric murder and act firmly against the Palestinian Authority’s culture of terror,” Danon demanded of the Council following the terrorist attack in Jerusalem in which Ansbacher lost her life.

On Saturday, 29-year-old Palestinian Arafat Irfayia of Hebron was arrested in Ramallah as the primary suspect in the murder. Arafat allegedly found Ansbacher in the Ein Yael nature area outside of Jerusalem, where the teen’s body was found on Thursday with stab wounds.

Irfayia was residing illegally in Israel and reportedly left his home in Hebron on Thursday with a knife, Times of Israel reported.

Responding to the murder, Danon stated, “The Security Council’s silence will not help in the fight against terrorism, and will only allow the waves of hatred to grow unchecked. While this silence continues, the PA maintains its policy of paying salaries for terrorists and educating its youth with incitement, and a 19-year-old girl was brutally murdered in Israel.”

“The Security Council has the responsibility and moral duty to make a clear condemnation of this barbaric murder and to act firmly against the culture of terror in the Palestinian Authority, the very culture that undermines stability in the region and destroys innocent lives,” he added.

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