Police Chief Moshe Karadi has approved the police deployment plans for the two-day Rosh HaShanah holiday, which begins Friday night. The police will work at Operations Level 3, one level below Emergency Level, with full deployment and no vacations.
Emphasis will be placed on increased precautions in light of the "security situation," including mobile and stationary check-points. Thousands of Border Guard and regular policemen, Civil Guard volunteers and soldiers will be on guard at open markets, synagogues, cemeteries, vacation spots, and more. Temporary police posts will be established in parks and forests to facilitate public access.
The traffic police force will also be enhanced, with helicopter units and other means, in order to monitor and guide traffic when necessary and "reduce the expected heavy traffic loads." Periodic reports will be provided to the media as to the locations of traffic jams and recommended alternate routes.
Intensive efforts will be invested to "prevent the entry of Shabahim [illegal aliens from the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas] into Israeli territory."
The police call on the public to be aware and to dial 100 whenever a suspicious person, car or other object is noticed.
Police and the Law
Arutz-7 asked Rabbi Zalman Melamed, the Rabbi of Beit El and dean of Yeshivat Beit El, if all of the above is permitted according to Jewish Law (Halakhah) on Sabbath and holidays, when Halakhically-defined "work" is not permitted. He said, "This is a question not for a press interview, but for an entire book... Whatever is connected to saving of lives is permitted; the question is how to define this. It can be argued that anything that allows a country to operate normally without fear of arbitrary violence might be permitted. But each case and type of activity must be judged on its own merits."
Rabbi Melamed added that the reality in which we live is so complex and dynamic that any book written on the topic now would become outdated within a short time. "In addition, if everyone were observant of Torah law, there would be no need for some of these questions," he said.
Anti-Terror
As has been the case during holiday periods for many years, the army will declare a closure on the PA-controlled areas, so as to prevent terror attacks when some terrorists are most anxious to perpetrate them. Not for the first time, ACRI - the Association for Civil Rights in Israel - is suing the IDF Commander in Judea and Samaria, demanding that the orders "restricting the mobility of tens of thousands of people to within the city limits of Shechem" be rescinded.
It will be recalled that on March 27, 2002, the first night of the Passover holiday, a suicide bomber terrorist detonated himself inside a Netanya hotel dining hall, murdering 29 people taking part in the traditional Seder meal, including six husband-and-wife couples. Major attacks have taken place on the Purim holiday, including in 1996, when a Hamas suicide bomber killed 18 bus passengers. In subsequent years, including 2004 and others, large-scale Purim attacks have been thwarted in time. This past March, just before Purim, two Palestinian terrorists were caught outside Shechem carrying a 20-kilogram explosive device in a jug inside a bag.
Four Kassam rockets were fired at Sderot and environs today. One of them, this morning, caused damage to a house and water piping, while an afternoon rocket heavily damaged a classroom at the Shaar HaNegev college. The Sderot municipality issued a call to the National Property Tax office, saying that permanent damage had apparently been caused to a building. Engineers suspect it is in danger of collapsing.
Three Palestinian terrorists who returned to the site of the Kassam launching to retrieve the launcher were shot by IDF forces.
Emphasis will be placed on increased precautions in light of the "security situation," including mobile and stationary check-points. Thousands of Border Guard and regular policemen, Civil Guard volunteers and soldiers will be on guard at open markets, synagogues, cemeteries, vacation spots, and more. Temporary police posts will be established in parks and forests to facilitate public access.
The traffic police force will also be enhanced, with helicopter units and other means, in order to monitor and guide traffic when necessary and "reduce the expected heavy traffic loads." Periodic reports will be provided to the media as to the locations of traffic jams and recommended alternate routes.
Intensive efforts will be invested to "prevent the entry of Shabahim [illegal aliens from the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas] into Israeli territory."
The police call on the public to be aware and to dial 100 whenever a suspicious person, car or other object is noticed.
Police and the Law
Arutz-7 asked Rabbi Zalman Melamed, the Rabbi of Beit El and dean of Yeshivat Beit El, if all of the above is permitted according to Jewish Law (Halakhah) on Sabbath and holidays, when Halakhically-defined "work" is not permitted. He said, "This is a question not for a press interview, but for an entire book... Whatever is connected to saving of lives is permitted; the question is how to define this. It can be argued that anything that allows a country to operate normally without fear of arbitrary violence might be permitted. But each case and type of activity must be judged on its own merits."
Rabbi Melamed added that the reality in which we live is so complex and dynamic that any book written on the topic now would become outdated within a short time. "In addition, if everyone were observant of Torah law, there would be no need for some of these questions," he said.
Anti-Terror
As has been the case during holiday periods for many years, the army will declare a closure on the PA-controlled areas, so as to prevent terror attacks when some terrorists are most anxious to perpetrate them. Not for the first time, ACRI - the Association for Civil Rights in Israel - is suing the IDF Commander in Judea and Samaria, demanding that the orders "restricting the mobility of tens of thousands of people to within the city limits of Shechem" be rescinded.
It will be recalled that on March 27, 2002, the first night of the Passover holiday, a suicide bomber terrorist detonated himself inside a Netanya hotel dining hall, murdering 29 people taking part in the traditional Seder meal, including six husband-and-wife couples. Major attacks have taken place on the Purim holiday, including in 1996, when a Hamas suicide bomber killed 18 bus passengers. In subsequent years, including 2004 and others, large-scale Purim attacks have been thwarted in time. This past March, just before Purim, two Palestinian terrorists were caught outside Shechem carrying a 20-kilogram explosive device in a jug inside a bag.
Four Kassam rockets were fired at Sderot and environs today. One of them, this morning, caused damage to a house and water piping, while an afternoon rocket heavily damaged a classroom at the Shaar HaNegev college. The Sderot municipality issued a call to the National Property Tax office, saying that permanent damage had apparently been caused to a building. Engineers suspect it is in danger of collapsing.
Three Palestinian terrorists who returned to the site of the Kassam launching to retrieve the launcher were shot by IDF forces.