O.C. Central Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky announced last night that special security zones had been established around the towns of Otniel and Beit Haggai, south of Hevron. Kaplinsky visited Otniel on Friday night after the attack, and his decision was a result of what he saw. Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reports that the decision means that no "foreign elements" will be allowed within 400 meters of the towns.
Another post-attack decision made last night was to intensify the army's targeted killings of terrorists and to make still greater efforts to arrest terrorist activists. Prime Minister Sharon and Defense Minister Mofaz made the decision last night, and Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has already expressed some reservations. He said today that targeted killings should be carried out with "utmost caution" and only after other means to arrest a suspect have been exhausted. Over 100 wanted terrorists have been apprehended in Shechem alone over the past month. Seven more were arrested in Judea and Samaria last night.
The leaders of the Hevron Jewish community say that the responsibility for the recent "continuous chain of terror attacks" that has claimed 18 lives in the past few weeks lies "directly on the shoulders of the present government, starting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and continuing with Defense Minister Mofaz and Foreign Minister Netanyahu, [which] has done absolutely nothing to stop the attacks and has not reacted significantly to any of the murders. Rather than permit continuous Jewish settlement between Kiryat Arba and Hevron, an effective response to terror, the government is effectively tying the hands of the military…"
Herut party leader MK Michael Kleiner calls on the government to abandon the path of Oslo and exhibit the fortitude and pride required to "deliver a triumphant blow that will not only determine the outcome of this war forced upon us, but will also eliminate any thoughts of further conflict against us by our enemy in the coming year as was done by Britain and America in Germany and Japan."
Another post-attack decision made last night was to intensify the army's targeted killings of terrorists and to make still greater efforts to arrest terrorist activists. Prime Minister Sharon and Defense Minister Mofaz made the decision last night, and Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has already expressed some reservations. He said today that targeted killings should be carried out with "utmost caution" and only after other means to arrest a suspect have been exhausted. Over 100 wanted terrorists have been apprehended in Shechem alone over the past month. Seven more were arrested in Judea and Samaria last night.
The leaders of the Hevron Jewish community say that the responsibility for the recent "continuous chain of terror attacks" that has claimed 18 lives in the past few weeks lies "directly on the shoulders of the present government, starting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and continuing with Defense Minister Mofaz and Foreign Minister Netanyahu, [which] has done absolutely nothing to stop the attacks and has not reacted significantly to any of the murders. Rather than permit continuous Jewish settlement between Kiryat Arba and Hevron, an effective response to terror, the government is effectively tying the hands of the military…"
Herut party leader MK Michael Kleiner calls on the government to abandon the path of Oslo and exhibit the fortitude and pride required to "deliver a triumphant blow that will not only determine the outcome of this war forced upon us, but will also eliminate any thoughts of further conflict against us by our enemy in the coming year as was done by Britain and America in Germany and Japan."