The eastern Jerusalem home of Ala'a Abu Dheim, the Arab terrorist who murdered eight young yeshiva students in March 2008, was sealed Monday morning by government authorities.
Abu Dheim slaughtered the boys and wounded dozens of others in a lethal terror attack on the Merkaz HaRav Kook Yeshiva in Jerusalem. The murderer was finally stopped when an off-duty IDF officer arrived on the scene, shot and killed him.
A large force of Israel police officers supervised workers as they filled two of the four floors of the house with cement. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Israel National News that Border police officers and "special patrol units" were deployed in the neighborhood. Timing of the operation was kept secret to prevent provocations.
"This is standard procedure in order to prevent any violence from taking place and interfering with the work," Rosenfeld said. He declined to give exact numbers but said that "a large police force" of at least 80 policemen was deployed in the area.
Rosenfeld added that there were no attempts by the family or by neighborhood Arabs to interfere with the proceedings.
After the terrorist attack at the yeshiva and his subsequent death, Abu Dheim's home was the scene of a major demonstration of support for the Hamas and Hizbullah terrorist organizations. A mourner's tent, decorated with flags from both terrorist organizations, was set up in front of his house, making it clear that the family supported Abu Dheim's terrorist actions.
Israeli officials did not force the family to remove the tent even though authorities in Amman blocked the extended family there from putting up a similar structure.
Moves to implement a Home Front Command decision reached together with the IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to demolish the home had been delayed repeatedly for months by court procedures.
However, on January 5, the High Court of Justice finally denied an appeal by Abu Dheim's father, who claimed that Israel had changed its policy in 2005 and no longer destroyed terrorists' homes. In its ruling, the Court said it was not fitting to intervene in policy set by Home Front Command.
The prosecution had argued that the case was extreme, thus meriting a response with the punishment set forth in Ordinance 119 that permits destruction of terrorists' homes.