The security departments of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria have been put on high alert for the possibility of terrorist attempts to kidnap Jews.
Jews are warned against hitchhiking because terrorists want to take hostages and use them as a bargaining chip for the release of imprisoned terrorists and a cessation of military action in Gaza.
A resident of Beit El said Thursday that an Arab tried to pick up hitchhikers at Givat Asaf and that he would have succeeded if it weren't for the alertness of one of the Jews who warned the others against getting in the car. The driver sped away.