IAF jet to return Mumbai victims' bodies to Israel

VIDEO - An Israeli Air Force jet carrying a forensics delegation and a team from the military rabbinate will be sent to Mumbai on Sunday to handle the repatriation of the Israelis killed in the attacks. A forensics team headed by Chief Superintendent Itzik Koronio will also be sent to India. The team is composed of seven experts on the identification of human remains, two DNA experts and a doctor from the forensic institute. In addition, a group of anti terror experts from various branches of the defense establishment will be sent to India to study the circumstances leading up to the large-scale terror attack. The experts will try to examine whether the attack was part of a new global terror method and if there is a need to adapt coping mechanisms in Israel to the new threat. According to reports, there was no evidence that the terrorists planned to hold any talks whatsoever for the release of their hostages. Israeli officials are trying to figure out which country is behind the attack, what websites the attackers used to plan the operation, where they got their instructions from and where training was held. It should be noted that some of the terrorists had an outwardly western appearance. Westerners who convert to Islam and join the global Jihad pose a relatively new security challenge, as they are more likely to manage to pass the screening process at border crossings. Video courtesy of Infolive.tv In the past, Israel and other countries have discussed the possibility of increasing the collection of intelligence and setting up joint databases on such converts. Israeli defense officials said that until information is collected on the content of the bags, the computers and the electronic devices found on the terrorists' bodies it could not be determined for certain whether the Chabad house in Mumbai was a preplanned target. In the past warnings of possible attacks on Chabad houses around the world were issued, especially around the holidays. This time however, no specific threat was made on the Chabad house in Mumbai. Official Israeli representatives and business representatives of major Israeli companies in India were ordered to be on high alert. On Saturday, the New York Times quoted Indian officials saying that Israel complained to them about the manner in which Indian troops handled the situation in the Chabad center, however, the report was denied by Israeli defense officials. 'Bring Holtzbergs back for burial tonight' Meanwhile on Sunday the Ministerial Committee for Symbols and Ceremonies headed by Minister Jacob Edery has decided to recognize the Israeli victims of the Mumbai attack as terror victims. The decision will affect the victims' burial arrangement and the treatment of their families. Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni said at Sunday's cabinet meeting that her ministry is working to bring Sandra Samuel, the Indian nanny who saved two-year-old Moshe Holtzberg from the besieged Chabad center in Mumbai. Both the toddler's parents were murdered in the attack. The parents of Rivka Holtzberg, who was killed in the Chabad house along with her husband Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg have asked the Foreign Ministry to have the couple's bodies brought back to Israel as soon as possible, and before the forensics team finishes going over the rest of the bodies. Rivka's uncle, Rabbi David Grossman, talked with Livni and told her "the family asks not to wait. As soon as the plane lands in India tonight, let it go back home with the bodies of the righteous". "They want to bury them on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, next to the grave of her grandfather..."Rabbi Grossman said. "We believe it is wrong to leave the bodies overnight. And while this is an unusual situation, every minute that passes is still important to us. We ask that they be taking to burial in Israel as soon as possible." The rabbi added that in his talk with the foreign minister he stressed the importance of the matter, and Livni promised to take care of it personally. Among those killed at the Chabad center was Norma Shvarzblat Rabinovich, a Mexican national who was expected to obtain her Israeli citizenship on Monday. Two of her three children have already made aliyah, and Rabinovich planned on joining them in Israel soon. While in India, the 50-year-old divorcee had contacted representatives of the Jewish Agency to make her aliyah arrangements. Itamar Eichner, Efrat Weiss and Sharon Roffe-Ofir contributed to this report

IAF jet to return Mumbai victims' bodies to Israel

(Video) Delegation of anti-terror experts headed to India to investigate terror attack that left at least eight Israelis dead; forensic team also sent to retrieve bodies. Parents of Rivka Holtzberg, who was killed with husband Gavriel, request bodies be sent back for burial as soon as possible