PA daily op-ed praises “heroic” terrorist murderer of 3 in Tel Aviv and criticizes the “crime” of “cowardly” Israeli security forces who killed him
Headline: “The failure of the Israeli security [system]”
“A week after Nashat Melhem carried out his operation (i.e., shooting attack killing 3) on Dizengoff [Street, in Tel Aviv], all of the Israeli security forces began searching for the Triangle resident (i.e., a concentration of Israeli-Arab towns and villages adjacent to the Green Line in northern Israel), but to no avail. It was the largest search operation of its kind since 1980. In addition… the Israeli security establishment has technologies and all the components of the communication and information revolution, and in spite of this – its efforts failed miserably.
A few of the [failure’s] manifestations:
1. The security establishment did not identify the person who carried out the operation.
2. They were not able to find him, even though the weapon he had used remained in his possession.
3. The Israeli street experienced genuine confusion and fear of the person who carried out the operation, to the extent that Israeli families did not send their children to school in the area of the incident.
4. Contradictions in security information: Once he was accused of belonging to ISIS, another time of ‘managing to escape to the Palestinian (i.e. West) Bank’, and another time his father, brother, cousins, and friends were accused of assisting him, and finally [they said] that ‘he was alone and no one assisted him!’
The conclusion obvious to everyone is the Israeli security forces’ bankruptcy and inability to identify the Martyr (Shahid). This was demonstrated by the fact that his father was the one who identified him in the surveillance cameras' footage, and then called the Israeli police and notified them about his son. Likewise, the family’s attorney is the one who revealed his hiding place, and not the 'genius' of the [Israeli] security forces.
If so, where is the heroism in the work of these [Israeli] forces? And why did the Israeli police not stop him at the operation’s first moment, considering the fact that its headquarters are located only a few meters away from the scene of the operation? And how did he manage to leave the area peacefully and unnoticed? And how did he return to his village and hide there without them discovering his whereabouts? Where is the [Israeli] security establishment in all its might and with all its capabilities?
Would it not be better if instead of boasting, Homeland Security Minister (sic., Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Minister of Information) Gilad Erdan, and his Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] would keep quiet and not lavish praise on those who shot Nashat [Melhem] in a nasty and vile manner instead of arresting him? Where is the courage and heroism in this cowardly act? And why were the heads of the [Israeli] security establishment and the murderers not put on trial for their bankruptcy? What is the position of the state of law regarding the crime (by “crime” the writer refers to Israel’s shooting of terrorist Melhem, not the attack the terrorist carried out. –Ed.) ?
All the questions raised require that the Israeli government, the Israeli Security Agency and police, and the entire security establishment explicitly declare the defeat and failure, and recognize that Martyr Nashat was the hero, not the murderers from the Israeli special units. That is because he carried out the operation calmly, and left the scene peacefully, without making a fuss, in addition to the fact that he did not give the security forces a chance to pursue him or discover his hiding place…
Martyr Nashat Melhem won, while they [the Israelis] were defeated, even though he died as a Martyr at the hands of the cowardly Israeli security agents. His success was reflected in his exposure of the emptiness and bankruptcy of the Israeli security establishment.”
Nashat Melhem - 29-year-old Israeli Arab terrorist who carried out a shooting attack, killing 2 Israelis, Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi, and wounding 8 others, at Hasimta bar in Tel Aviv on Jan. 1, 2016. Melhem fled the scene, and later that day killed a taxi driver, Bedouin Israeli Amin Shaaban, in another part of Tel Aviv. A week after the attacks, on Jan. 8,
2016, Israeli security forces tracked down Melhem in a building in his hometown of Arara in the north of Israel. After Melhem opened fire at them, the Israeli security forces shot and killed him.
“A week after Nashat Melhem carried out his operation (i.e., shooting attack killing 3) on Dizengoff [Street, in Tel Aviv], all of the Israeli security forces began searching for the Triangle resident (i.e., a concentration of Israeli-Arab towns and villages adjacent to the Green Line in northern Israel), but to no avail. It was the largest search operation of its kind since 1980. In addition… the Israeli security establishment has technologies and all the components of the communication and information revolution, and in spite of this – its efforts failed miserably.
A few of the [failure’s] manifestations:
1. The security establishment did not identify the person who carried out the operation.
2. They were not able to find him, even though the weapon he had used remained in his possession.
3. The Israeli street experienced genuine confusion and fear of the person who carried out the operation, to the extent that Israeli families did not send their children to school in the area of the incident.
4. Contradictions in security information: Once he was accused of belonging to ISIS, another time of ‘managing to escape to the Palestinian (i.e. West) Bank’, and another time his father, brother, cousins, and friends were accused of assisting him, and finally [they said] that ‘he was alone and no one assisted him!’
The conclusion obvious to everyone is the Israeli security forces’ bankruptcy and inability to identify the Martyr (Shahid). This was demonstrated by the fact that his father was the one who identified him in the surveillance cameras' footage, and then called the Israeli police and notified them about his son. Likewise, the family’s attorney is the one who revealed his hiding place, and not the 'genius' of the [Israeli] security forces.
If so, where is the heroism in the work of these [Israeli] forces? And why did the Israeli police not stop him at the operation’s first moment, considering the fact that its headquarters are located only a few meters away from the scene of the operation? And how did he manage to leave the area peacefully and unnoticed? And how did he return to his village and hide there without them discovering his whereabouts? Where is the [Israeli] security establishment in all its might and with all its capabilities?
Would it not be better if instead of boasting, Homeland Security Minister (sic., Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Minister of Information) Gilad Erdan, and his Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] would keep quiet and not lavish praise on those who shot Nashat [Melhem] in a nasty and vile manner instead of arresting him? Where is the courage and heroism in this cowardly act? And why were the heads of the [Israeli] security establishment and the murderers not put on trial for their bankruptcy? What is the position of the state of law regarding the crime (by “crime” the writer refers to Israel’s shooting of terrorist Melhem, not the attack the terrorist carried out. –Ed.) ?
All the questions raised require that the Israeli government, the Israeli Security Agency and police, and the entire security establishment explicitly declare the defeat and failure, and recognize that Martyr Nashat was the hero, not the murderers from the Israeli special units. That is because he carried out the operation calmly, and left the scene peacefully, without making a fuss, in addition to the fact that he did not give the security forces a chance to pursue him or discover his hiding place…
Martyr Nashat Melhem won, while they [the Israelis] were defeated, even though he died as a Martyr at the hands of the cowardly Israeli security agents. His success was reflected in his exposure of the emptiness and bankruptcy of the Israeli security establishment.”
Nashat Melhem - 29-year-old Israeli Arab terrorist who carried out a shooting attack, killing 2 Israelis, Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi, and wounding 8 others, at Hasimta bar in Tel Aviv on Jan. 1, 2016. Melhem fled the scene, and later that day killed a taxi driver, Bedouin Israeli Amin Shaaban, in another part of Tel Aviv. A week after the attacks, on Jan. 8,
2016, Israeli security forces tracked down Melhem in a building in his hometown of Arara in the north of Israel. After Melhem opened fire at them, the Israeli security forces shot and killed him.