Just days after Israeli settler Yehudah Dimentman was murdered, Israeli security forces arrested the terrorists behind the attack—without firing a single shot. “All terrorists need to know that the State of Israel will hold them accountable,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in comments released by his office on Sunday. “They cannot hide for long. Every terrorist must know that they are on borrowed time. I would like to convey to the family of Yehudah Dimentman: The pain is immense but terrorism will not win and will not move us from here.”
Dimentman was killed on Thursday when terrorists opened fire on his vehicle near the settlement of Homesh in the Samaria region. The IDF Twitter feed noted that in addition to killing Dimentman, two other civilians were also wounded.
The arrests, part of a joint security forces operation that involved the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and IDF, snagged multiple suspects and the suspected weapon behind the shooting, according to an ISA press release. An article on the IDF Hebrew website, translated by Google, noted that the arrests were conducted without a fight or live fire. In the IDF article, IDF spokesman Brigadier General Ran Kochav expressed the hope that the arrests would lead to “more intelligence that will help prevent further attacks in the near future.”
The Shin Bet confirmed the terror cell is believed to be part of the Islamic Jihad terror group, according to The Times of Israel. While the article noted the Islamic Jihad had not yet claimed credit for the attack as of Sunday, a spokesman said the group was responsible in comments to Hamas-affiliated media. The Times of Israel said that at least six terrorists were arrested in connection with the murder of Dimentman, a 25-year-old father of a nine-month-old child.
In comments to the Israeli cabinet on Sunday, Bennett warned of a broader trend of incitement against Israel. “In recent weeks, we have witnessed efforts by terrorist organizations to raise their head in Judea and Samaria. There have also been attacks carried out by lone individuals inspired by the usual incitement, that maybe changes platforms—in the past it was Facebook and now it is Tik-Tok—but the incitement is still the same incitement,” said Bennett.
“The IDF, ISA and all of the security agencies are alert and ready. There is no terrorist who we will not pursue and who we will not reach, whatever it takes.”
Bennett was present in the command center and monitored the arrest operation in real time. He praised the cooperation of the various security forces, which also included the special anti-terrorism unit of the Israel Police.
“When we work together, the goal is crystal clear—we succeed. There was success here in closing in on the terrorists in a very short time and in not allowing them to disappear for a long time,” Bennett was quoted by his office as saying at the cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, the agencies’ work is not done: The ISA was set to further investigate the suspects as another stage in the counterterror process. Said the ISA press release, “The security forces will continue until justice is served for those involved in acts of terror.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, December 19, 2021)