No arrests have been made in the murder of Ben Yosef Livnat and wounding of four other Breslover hassidim at Joseph's Tomb on Sunday, the Ma'an news agency reports.
The report says PA security forces spokesman, Adnan Al Dameer, patently rejected previous reports in Israeli media saying such an arrest had been made. The identity of the murderers is known, as they were PA policemen.
Dameer said the subpoena issued to the PA officers involved in the shooting was only intended to hear them explain the chain of events that led to the shooting. Dammer continued to blame the victims for the attack, emphasizing that they arrived without prior coordination.
Such arrivals are not uncommon and the accepted method of dealing with them is to detain the Israelis until IDF personnel can arrive and escort them away. The PA policemen were certainly aware of this frequent occurrence.
Demeer also denied reports that a tripartite commission of inquiry consisting of American, Israeli, and PA officials to examine the shooting would be established. Instead, he said, a PA committee would be established. He said the PA had no intention of 'expanding' the inquiry beyond its own ranks.
In response, National Union chairman MK Yaakov Katz asked Israel's government to order the IDF to immediately apprehend the PA officers responsible for the incident.
"If the Defense Minister will not do it." Katz said. "I call on Speaker Rivlin to convene the Knesset for a special session to discuss the matter. Israel can not allow a situation to continue where in parts of the country, areas where there is de facto sovereignty, Jews are massacred when they pray. This is no different from the situation that once prevailed in Europe, where there was no protection for the Jewish people."