The community of Shavei Shomron, a third of the way from Shechem to Netanya, celebrated its deliverance from a major catastrophe this past Shabbat. A terrorist infiltrated the town on Friday morning, threw grenades at a kindergarten and raced towards homes, shooting all the while. No one was hurt in the rampage, the terrorist was killed, and the IDF destroyed his home in Balata yesterday.
David Elbaz, a long-time Shavei resident and the owner of the town\'s mini-market, was the hero of the incident. He told Arutz-7 what happened:
\"I was in the store, and at around 8:15 I heard the explosion of a grenade coming from the kindergarten 200 meters away. I quickly ran out with my gun, but when I got there I heard the shots coming from the north, and I kept on running towards them until I got closer to him... He was throwing grenades, and then I got to within two meters of him, but I was behind a wall. He shot towards the wall, so I let him shoot, and when he stopped for a thousandth of a second, I stuck my hands out and shot a few bullets at his chest. He fell, and I then ran behind the houses and got him from behind and finished off the work. Thank G-d, Hodu La-Hashem Ki Tov (Thank G-d for He is good), it ended this way. The whole thing only lasted a few seconds... We celebrated with amazing joy this Shabbat at the great miracle that happened to us…\"
Elbaz, who has lived in Shavei Shomron for 23 years, said that the army arrived on the scene quickly, but that the terrorist was already dead. Fatah took credit for the attack.
Bentzy Lieberman, head of both the Shomron Regional Council and the Council of Jewish Communities in Yesha, told Arutz-7 today that the increasing terrorist attempts are taking their toll on the residents: \"There is definitely a feeling of distress. It is clear that Chief of Staff Mofaz is right when he says that Operation Defensive Shield did not complete its job against the terrorist infrastructures.\" Lieberman said that local officials are in contact with the army and with the Prime Minister\'s Office, including with Ariel Sharon himself, in order to obtain more manpower for guard duty: \"Many soldiers who had been guarding in our towns have been removed in the past week. One commander specifically warned two weeks ago that a certain tank should not be taken away, as it had special night vision equipment and its position was critical - but the tank was removed, and then the terrorist in Itamar [who murdered three high school students five days ago] came from exactly that route! I have almost no doubt at all that if that tank had not been removed, the terrorist would have been stopped.\"
Lieberman said that he is aware that the issue of protection in Yesha is a broad one that cannot be solved in a case-by-case manner: \"But the main point is exactly the opposite of what Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer said today. He said that we have to keep pressuring Arafat to do the work for us, but the truth is precisely the opposite: We have to realize that Oslo and all security arrangements with the PA are over and done with. Only the Afghanistan solution is the answer - meaning that there are no negotiations with terrorists, we take everything into our hands, and we continue the warfare for as long as we have to - with the IDF\'s usual ethical conduct, of course, but also ensuring that no soldier be harmed while we fight these terrorists.\" He noted that of the 45,000 legal and illegal guns the Palestinians held before Defensive Shield, \"only 5,000 were confiscated during the offensive. They still have 40,000 guns!\"
David Elbaz, a long-time Shavei resident and the owner of the town\'s mini-market, was the hero of the incident. He told Arutz-7 what happened:
\"I was in the store, and at around 8:15 I heard the explosion of a grenade coming from the kindergarten 200 meters away. I quickly ran out with my gun, but when I got there I heard the shots coming from the north, and I kept on running towards them until I got closer to him... He was throwing grenades, and then I got to within two meters of him, but I was behind a wall. He shot towards the wall, so I let him shoot, and when he stopped for a thousandth of a second, I stuck my hands out and shot a few bullets at his chest. He fell, and I then ran behind the houses and got him from behind and finished off the work. Thank G-d, Hodu La-Hashem Ki Tov (Thank G-d for He is good), it ended this way. The whole thing only lasted a few seconds... We celebrated with amazing joy this Shabbat at the great miracle that happened to us…\"
Elbaz, who has lived in Shavei Shomron for 23 years, said that the army arrived on the scene quickly, but that the terrorist was already dead. Fatah took credit for the attack.
Bentzy Lieberman, head of both the Shomron Regional Council and the Council of Jewish Communities in Yesha, told Arutz-7 today that the increasing terrorist attempts are taking their toll on the residents: \"There is definitely a feeling of distress. It is clear that Chief of Staff Mofaz is right when he says that Operation Defensive Shield did not complete its job against the terrorist infrastructures.\" Lieberman said that local officials are in contact with the army and with the Prime Minister\'s Office, including with Ariel Sharon himself, in order to obtain more manpower for guard duty: \"Many soldiers who had been guarding in our towns have been removed in the past week. One commander specifically warned two weeks ago that a certain tank should not be taken away, as it had special night vision equipment and its position was critical - but the tank was removed, and then the terrorist in Itamar [who murdered three high school students five days ago] came from exactly that route! I have almost no doubt at all that if that tank had not been removed, the terrorist would have been stopped.\"
Lieberman said that he is aware that the issue of protection in Yesha is a broad one that cannot be solved in a case-by-case manner: \"But the main point is exactly the opposite of what Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer said today. He said that we have to keep pressuring Arafat to do the work for us, but the truth is precisely the opposite: We have to realize that Oslo and all security arrangements with the PA are over and done with. Only the Afghanistan solution is the answer - meaning that there are no negotiations with terrorists, we take everything into our hands, and we continue the warfare for as long as we have to - with the IDF\'s usual ethical conduct, of course, but also ensuring that no soldier be harmed while we fight these terrorists.\" He noted that of the 45,000 legal and illegal guns the Palestinians held before Defensive Shield, \"only 5,000 were confiscated during the offensive. They still have 40,000 guns!\"