J'lem: Right-wing activists plant fake bomb
Note attached to ‘bomb’ reads, ‘Disengagement will blow up in our face.’ police officials say incident marks fifth pullout-related fake bomb incident in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM - Right-wing activists planted a fake bomb Wednesday on the corner of Shmuel Hanavi and Bar-Ilan streets in Jerusalem.
A sapper summoned to the scene by concerned passersby found a bag with a box in it; a note attached to the box read, “The disengagement will blow up in our face.”
Police have launched an investigation into the incident, but no eyewitnesses have stepped forward as of yet.
Police officials said the incident marks the fifth pullout-related fake bomb incident in Jerusalem.
More than a month ago fake bombs were planted on Jaffa Street at the Mahaneh Yehuda outdoor market.
The two right-wing activists responsible for placing the bombs were arrested and are scheduled to stand trial. Both currently remain under house arrest.
Last Monday it was cleared for publication that police arrested two soldiers from an ultra-Orthodox unit (Nahal Haredi), both in their 20s, for suspicion of planting a fake device in Jerusalem’s central bus station.
Entire area shut down
The two soldiers, Arieh Katz and Meir Bretler, were taken into custody.
If they indeed planted the device, their act would be the first time that religious soldiers opposed to the pullout crossed the line from order refusal to active attempts to destroy the disengagement plan.
Security forces treated the incident with severity, and shut down the entire central bus station and all bus routes to and from the capital, following the discovery of the suspicious device in one of the station’s bathrooms.
The device included a 12-kilogram (about 26 pounds) gas balloon, a clock, and wires.
Large police and military border forces were mobilized to the area, and a bomb squad unit discovered a note, which also read: “The disengagement will blow up in your face.”
