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| Israeli Soldier Is Kidnapped and Killed | Israeli Soldier Is Kidnapped and Killed |
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| JERUSALEM — An Israeli soldier was kidnapped and killed Friday by a Palestinian man who had hoped to use his body as leverage to lobby for release of his brother from an Israeli prison, military officials said Saturday. | JERUSALEM — An Israeli soldier was kidnapped and killed Friday by a Palestinian man who had hoped to use his body as leverage to lobby for release of his brother from an Israeli prison, military officials said Saturday. |
| Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said the Palestinian, Nidal Ammar, 42, had confessed to the crime after being arrested early Saturday along with another brother. | |
| Colonel Lerner said that Mr. Ammar knew the 20-year-old soldier, Sgt. Tomer Hazan, because they had worked together in a restaurant in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam. Mr. Ammar had picked the soldier up in a taxi Friday in Israel and taken him first to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and then persuaded him to go to the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Amin, where Mr. Ammar lived, Colonel Lerner said. | |
| Mr. Ammar then took Sergeant Hazan to an open area nearby, killed him, and hid his body in a water cistern, according to Colonel Lerner, who said Mr. Ammar “wanted to barter with the dead body.” | |
| It was unclear Saturday afternoon how Mr. Ammar persuaded Sergeant Hazan to go with him, or what kind of relationship they had. Colonel Lerner said Mr. Ammar was married to an Israeli citizen but had no permit to be in Israel. Since the second intifada a decade ago and Israel’s subsequent building of a barrier separating it from most of the West Bank, Israeli travel into Palestinian villages is relatively uncommon. | |
| The kidnapping of soldiers in Israel, where military service is mandatory for most Jews, is among the most profound fears for Israelis, and is seen by some Palestinian militants as a powerful tactic. Nothing similar has occurred in several years, Colonel Lerner said. | |
| The most notorious recent abduction was that of Gilad Shalit, who was taken by Hamas through underground tunnels across the border from Israel into the Gaza Strip in 2006. He was held for five years before being released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in 2011. | The most notorious recent abduction was that of Gilad Shalit, who was taken by Hamas through underground tunnels across the border from Israel into the Gaza Strip in 2006. He was held for five years before being released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in 2011. |
| Some 4,500 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails for security offenses are widely seen as political prisoners — and heroes — by their families and communities. Israel recently released 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners as part of renewed peace talks brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry. | Some 4,500 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails for security offenses are widely seen as political prisoners — and heroes — by their families and communities. Israel recently released 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners as part of renewed peace talks brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry. |
| Colonel Lerner said that Mr. Ammar’s imprisoned brother, Nur ad-Din Ammar, had been incarcerated since 2003 and was a member of the Tanzim militia, an offshoot of the Palestinian Fatah faction founded in 1995. He did not detail the crimes Mr. Ammar was accused of, nor say whether there had been any recent development in his case that might have spurred his brother to act. | Colonel Lerner said that Mr. Ammar’s imprisoned brother, Nur ad-Din Ammar, had been incarcerated since 2003 and was a member of the Tanzim militia, an offshoot of the Palestinian Fatah faction founded in 1995. He did not detail the crimes Mr. Ammar was accused of, nor say whether there had been any recent development in his case that might have spurred his brother to act. |
| Colonel Lerner did not say how Sergeant Hazan was killed. | |
| The soldier’s family informed Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, that he was missing about 10 p.m. Friday, according to a military news release. An investigation immediately followed involving a large number of intelligence officers and military officials, Colonel Lerner said, and who by Saturday morning stormed Beit Amin, a village of about 1,100 people not far over the Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank. | The soldier’s family informed Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, that he was missing about 10 p.m. Friday, according to a military news release. An investigation immediately followed involving a large number of intelligence officers and military officials, Colonel Lerner said, and who by Saturday morning stormed Beit Amin, a village of about 1,100 people not far over the Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank. |
| Within hours, Mr. Ammar led the authorities to the body and confessed, the colonel said. |