Menahem Landau, a former senior officer in the Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet), told Arutz Sheva Sunday that the Israeli security forces are waiting for the yeshiva boys' abductors to make their first mistake, and for a piece of evidence that will provide a clue to the whereabouts of the boys.
"The name of the game now is intelligence, intelligence and more intelligence,” he said. “In order to achieve this, we use all of the possible tools – agents on the ground, technological and other means, out of the hope that we will reach that piece of information we need to reach.”
Possible informants, explained Landau, include people who disagree with the direction that the Palestinian leadership is taking, some of whom are motivated by an adventurous spirit, while others need the money and are willing to provide information in return.
Landau added that while we live in a time in which security forces can be videotaped in action by anyone with a cellphone, “the technology works for all sides.” He refused to elaborate on this, however.
He would not speculate on how long the operation to find the missing yeshiva students would last. In the past, he said, many abductions were foiled ahead of time, others lasted a few days, and a few lasted for years.
"There are questions that will have to be asked,” he hinted, “and on the basis of that, one scenario or another will be constructed. The fact that no one has claimed responsibility or made demands means that either this is an independent group, that has no immediate connection to its organization, who did what they did – and I say this pessimistically – and each went his separate way, or it is an organized group that made plans, and until it is on solid ground in terms of a hiding place, they will not come out publicly. Anything is possible,” he said.