The Jerusalem Magistrates Court turned down a police request to extend the custody of two youths from Tapuach - a Jewish community in the Shomron - until the end of the proceedings, but they will remain in jail until Sunday, when a final decision will be made.
Levy Zussman and Moshe Hershkovitz have been in jail for eight days, after they strayed into the PA-controlled village of Jaljulya, south of Ariel, and were rescued by the IDF from a raging Palestinian mob. The police wish to charge them not only with entering Area A and with trespassing (in having entered an Arab house in the village to protect themselves), but also with \"making threats.\"
The boys themselves reported that they were on their way to fulfill the ancient custom of \"ascending\" to Jerusalem on foot for the Sukkot holiday, and soon found themselves facing an Arab mob preparing for a double lynching. Hershkowitz raised his weapon, and the two entered a nearby house for protection, forbidding the Arab family members to leave. One of the boys used his cellular phone to call his friends in Tapuach, who in turn notified the IDF. The army first notified the PA, but after it became clear that the PA was not acting quickly enough - and, some Tapuach residents claim, after they themselves entered the village in an attempt to save the hikers - the army sent in tanks and carried out the rescue.
Regional IDF commander Col. Yossi Adiri said that the boys acted with restraint, and Atty. Naftali Wurzberger, representing them, said that though the army understands and justifies the boys\' actions based on the circumstances, \"the police ignore the army reports and act in a way that is totally detached from the reality on the ground...\"
Levy Zussman and Moshe Hershkovitz have been in jail for eight days, after they strayed into the PA-controlled village of Jaljulya, south of Ariel, and were rescued by the IDF from a raging Palestinian mob. The police wish to charge them not only with entering Area A and with trespassing (in having entered an Arab house in the village to protect themselves), but also with \"making threats.\"
The boys themselves reported that they were on their way to fulfill the ancient custom of \"ascending\" to Jerusalem on foot for the Sukkot holiday, and soon found themselves facing an Arab mob preparing for a double lynching. Hershkowitz raised his weapon, and the two entered a nearby house for protection, forbidding the Arab family members to leave. One of the boys used his cellular phone to call his friends in Tapuach, who in turn notified the IDF. The army first notified the PA, but after it became clear that the PA was not acting quickly enough - and, some Tapuach residents claim, after they themselves entered the village in an attempt to save the hikers - the army sent in tanks and carried out the rescue.
Regional IDF commander Col. Yossi Adiri said that the boys acted with restraint, and Atty. Naftali Wurzberger, representing them, said that though the army understands and justifies the boys\' actions based on the circumstances, \"the police ignore the army reports and act in a way that is totally detached from the reality on the ground...\"