The evidence from the probe into the three Independence Day axe murders in Elad reveals major gaps in Israel’s handling of the new Palestinian tactics of terror. While details of the probe are under a court-imposed gag, those gaps are plain to see. The axe-killers, Assad al-Rifai, 19, and Soubhi Abu Shakir, 20, both from the village of Roumana in the Jenin area in northern Samaria, were familiar faces in Elad. One was sighted on Thursday, a day before the attack, cruising around the town. On the day itself, he was seen going into a building and shouting Allahu Akbar. A call midday to the police failed to raise the alarm.
Had the fleet of police cars rushing to the scene at 8 pm on Thursday arrived eight hours earlier, the tragedy may have been averted.
As it was, the first victim, Oren Ben Yiftah, a 35-year-old driver from Lod, actually drove the two axe-killers from the Green Line barrier, allowing them to sneak across into the ultra-religious town, as they had done before to take up jobs without a permit. After murdering Ben Yiftah, the terrorists headed to Ibn Gvirol street and a park, where they killed Elad residents Yonatan Havakuk and Boaz Gol. The three victims, in their 30s or 40s, were mourned at their funerals on Friday by their widows and 16 children. READ MORE
