Plot on rabbi foiled
Security authorities detain three Arab-Israelis on suspicion of planning to assassinate Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef. Three men also suspected of planning to carry out attacks in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM - The Shin Bet has detained three Arab-Israeli Jerusalem residents on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
The story was cleared for publication Sunday.
The three men, who belong to the Popular Front terror group, were arrested and taken in for interrogation. They are also suspected of planning to carry out terror attacks in the capital.
Authorities said the three were detained in April. One of them, Salah Hamuri, 20, is also a French national. The other two were identified as Muatsem Sheikh, 25, and Musa Darwish, 22.
Suspects observed rabbi’s house
Darwish, who worked as a delivery boy for a Jerusalem food outlet, became familiar with Rabbi Yosef’s home through the course of his delivery work. In January, Darwish and Hamuri examined the area around the rabbi’s house and access roads to and from the site.
The two also gathered information on Yosef’s security arrangements. Following their surveillance efforts, the two concluded they would be able to assassinate the rabbi when he leaves his home.
Hamuri and Darwish also examined the possibility of fleeing the scene on motorcycles.
Security officials noted that since Minister Zeevi’s assassination, Popular Front members are looking for ways to target other senior Israeli figures.
Directed and funded by senior Popular Front figures
The Shin Bet’s investigation revealed that in the past year the three were making efforts to rehabilitate the Popular Front terror infrastructure in Jerusalem, after most of its members were detained.
The suspects were directed and funded by senior Popular Front figures in Jerusalem and also maintained contacts with senior group figures jailed in the West Bank town of Jericho for their role in the assassination of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.
The three reportedly purchased weapons in recent months and began planning attacks across the capital.
Recently, Security authorities have detained a Palestinian resident of the West Bank town of Nablus who was recruited by the Hizbullah and trained in Lebanon ahead of an assassination plot against a senior Israeli figure.
After returning from Lebanon, Visam Nasser joined a Hizbullah-directed cell, whose members were later detained, too.
Nasser himself was detained in a joint operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet.
