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Netanyahu Blames Hamas in Kidnapping of Israeli Youths Netanyahu Says Three Were Taken by Hamas
(about 9 hours later)
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday squarely blamed the militant Palestinian movement Hamas for the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, as Israel’s military closed off part of the southern West Bank after arresting 80 people overnight, many of them Hamas activists. JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel knew “for a fact” that the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers was the work of the militant Islamic movement Hamas but held the Palestinian Authority responsible, arguing that the abduction proved that the world was wrong to accept the Palestinian government formed this month with Hamas’s consent.
“The kidnapping was carried out by Hamas members,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a rare English statement aimed at galvanizing international attention. “We know that for a fact.” The prime minister said the “attack should surprise no one,” because “Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel and to carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians — including children.” Israel holds President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority responsible, Mr. Netanyahu said. “Israel warned the international community about the dangers of endorsing the Fatah-Hamas unity pact,” Mr. Netanyahu said, referring to the secular Fatah faction led by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. “The dangers of that pact should now be abundantly clear to all.” Speaking in English to galvanize international attention, he added, “This will not advance peace; it will advance terror.”
The huge Israeli military mobilization in the southern West Bank to search for the three teenagers threatened to further destabilize Israeli-Palestinian relations, which were already strained by Mr. Abbas’s formation of a new government this month after reconciling with the Islamist Hamas. Though the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have cooperated with Israel in the search for the kidnappers, Hamas’s leaders have been celebrating the abduction as an act of resistance against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. In the largest military operation in the West Bank in years, Israel arrested at least 86 Palestinians, many of them senior Hamas figures, over the weekend, and sent thousands of specialized troops into the area, limiting access to the city of Hebron. The executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization condemned Israel’s “racist” campaign, rejected Mr. Netanyahu’s “foul accusations” and referred to the kidnapping as “alleged,” according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.
The teenagers, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel, both 16, were last heard from Thursday night as they tried to hitchhike home from Jewish settlements in the West Bank where they study in yeshivas. In an emotional statement broadcast Sunday on the radio, Naftali’s mother, Rachel Frankel, spoke directly to her son, who holds both Israeli and American citizenship. The teenagers, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel, both 16, were last heard from Thursday night as they tried to hitchhike home from Jewish settlements in the West Bank where they study in yeshivas. The growing search for them and their captors further destabilized Israeli-Palestinian relations, and challenged the new Palestinian government’s ability to hold together disparate political factions and reunite the West Bank and Gaza after a seven-year split.
“Naftali, Mom and Dad and your brothers love you to no end,” she said. “You should know that the people of Israel are turning worlds to bring you home.” Though the Palestinian Authority’s security forces were working with Israel to investigate the kidnapping and maintain order in the West Bank, Hamas officials in Gaza celebrated the abduction as an act of resistance against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, called Mr. Netanyahu’s charge “stupid” in a Facebook post and said that the arrests “are meant to weaken Hamas but they will never succeed.”
Two little-known groups made dubious claims of responsibility for the kidnapping over the weekend. Three Palestinian officials — Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Mr. Abbas’s spokesman; Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator; and Majdi Khaldi, a diplomatic adviser to the president — did not return telephone messages seeking comment on Sunday. Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary of the P.L.O. executive committee, said in a radio interview that Mr. Netanyahu wanted only to “seem as the victim for the international community.”
Mr. Netanyahu did not publicly cite evidence for his definitive assertion that Hamas was responsible for the kidnappings. “Now he wants to hold us responsible for something we’re definitely not responsible for,” Mr. Abed Rabbo said. “No one in the world believes that the P.A. or the reconciliation government is responsible.”
In a Facebook post, a Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, called the accusation “stupid” and said that the arrests “are meant to weaken Hamas but they will never succeed.” Because one of the missing teenagers — Naftali Frankel — holds both Israeli and American citizenship, Washington has been deeply engaged in the crisis.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a close aide to Mr. Abbas, said Mr. Netanyahu only wanted to “seem as the victim for the international community.” Secretary of State John Kerry, whose intensive Middle East peace initiative collapsed after the April signing of the reconciliation pact, on Sunday issued a statement saying that “many indications point to Hamas’s involvement” in what he called a “despicable terrorist act.” But while Mr. Kerry underscored the United States’ position “that Hamas is a terrorist organization,” he did not say whether Washington would revisit its decision to work with the new Palestinian government.
“Now he wants to hold us responsible for something we’re definitely not responsible for,” Mr. Abed Rabbo said on the Voice of Palestine radio station after Mr. Netanyahu’s statement on Sunday morning. “No one in the world believes that the P.A. or the reconciliation government is responsible. Everybody knows who is responsible and continues to ignite fire in the region.” Mr. Netanyahu did not publicly cite specific evidence tying Hamas to the kidnapping, and Israeli military officials refused to do so. But the prime minister asserted that there had been “an increase in terrorist activity emanating from the West Bank” since the reconciliation pact, something a senior military intelligence officer later said was not the case.
Israel has roundly rejected the new Palestinian government as “backed by Hamas,” and has criticized the United States and Europe — which like Israel consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization — for continuing to work with and finance the authority despite the reconciliation pact. The officer, in a background briefing with foreign journalists conducted on the condition that his name not be published, said that an uptick in attacks started last summer, but that most were the work of “private Palestinian citizens” or local cells of global jihadist groups, and were not orchestrated by Hamas leaders.
“You remember that Israel warned the international community about the dangers of endorsing the Fatah-Hamas unity pact,” Mr. Netanyahu said Sunday, referring to Mr. Abbas’s secular Fatah faction. “The dangers of that pact now should be abundantly clear to all.” He said that there had been an increase in “terrorist activity emanating from the West Bank” since the April reconciliation, and that “this increases the likelihood that Hamas will take control of the Palestinian Authority.” “We see no new trend or new phenomenon until now,” the officer said when asked about the reconciliation pact and the new government it spawned.
“This will not advance peace; it will advance terror,” he added. Still, right-wing Israeli politicians seized on the kidnapping to make their case against the Palestinian reunification.
But Qadura Fares, the Palestinians’ former minister of prisoner affairs, said that “the kidnapping is the result of the peace-process stalemate,” and that both Mr. Netanyahu and Hamas leaders were trying to use it to “make political gains.” The Palestinian Authority “cannot claim clean hands,” Yuval Steinitz, a minister from Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said on Israel radio. “If the abduction comes from P.A. territory, it is responsible. If it was executed by Hamas, which is represented in the P.A. government, the P.A. is responsible.”
In a statement issued Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that Hamas appeared to have had a role in the kidnapping.
“We are still seeking details on the parties responsible for this despicable terrorist act, although many indications point to Hamas’ involvement,” Mr. Kerry said. “As we gather this information, we reiterate our position that Hamas is a terrorist organization known for its attacks on innocent civilians and which has used kidnapping in the past.”
Mr. Kerry also said that the United States was offering its “full support” for Israel in its search for the missing teenagers. He added that the United States had encouraged “full cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security services,” which Mr. Kerry said was “ongoing.”
Hamas members of Parliament, former ministers, imams and professors were among those arrested in the night raids in Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah and other West Bank cities, villages and refugee camps. Israel also carried out six airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight that Palestinian health officials said wounded a 15-year-old girl and a 27-year-old woman, and it closed its commercial and pedestrian crossings into Gaza with exceptions only for fuel deliveries and humanitarian emergencies.
A paratroopers brigade, a special operations unit and light infantry were deployed in the southern West Bank, where they closed off the area around Hebron in an operation the military referred to as the “return of our brothers.” Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the 80 Hamas members were arrested to gather intelligence and enhance operational capabilities and “to influence the people” who participated in or have knowledge about the abductions.
“History has taught us that terror does not pay in the West Bank,” Colonel Lerner said in an interview. “We get our hands on the perpetrators in the end. That’s what we expect to do and that’s what we’re determined to do.”
At Mekor Haim, the West Bank yeshiva where Naftali and Gilad studied, about 200 of their classmates, teachers and people from the surrounding settlements spent nearly two hours reciting psalms on Sunday in a special service with a mood of mourning. Many men and teenage boys were wrapped in prayer shawls and wept openly as the rabbis told them that it was a time for prayer, not speeches, and that “God can reverse the will.”
But several Israeli politicians portrayed the kidnapping as proof that the new Palestinian government had opened the door to terrorism.
“Israel holds Palestinian President Abbas directly responsible for the three boys,” Naftali Bennett, the right-wing economy minister, said after visiting the Frankel family in Nof Ayalon, a small community of about 2,500 mostly Orthodox Jews between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Danny Danon, the deputy defense minister, said in a statement that “a red line has been crossed” and promised that “our government will extract a heavy price from the Palestinian leadership.”Danny Danon, the deputy defense minister, said in a statement that “a red line has been crossed” and promised that “our government will extract a heavy price from the Palestinian leadership.”
The Palestinian Authority “cannot claim clean hands,” Yuval Steinitz, a minister from Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said on Israel radio. “No one here gets an exemption. If the abduction comes from P.A. territory, it is responsible. If it was executed by Hamas, which is represented in the P.A. government, the P.A. is responsible.” In an operation the Israeli military called “Return of Our Brothers,” soldiers arrested Hamas members of Parliament, former ministers, imams and professors in night raids across West Bank cities, villages and refugee camps. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the arrests were intended to gather intelligence, enhance operational capabilities and “influence the people” who participated in or have knowledge about the abduction.
Israel also carried out six airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight in response to rocket fire, wounding a 15-year-old girl and a 27-year-old woman. It closed commercial and pedestrian crossings into Gaza with exceptions only for fuel deliveries and humanitarian emergencies, and canceled family visits to Palestinians in Israeli jails this week. On Sunday night, four rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel.
A paratroopers brigade, a special operations unit and light infantry were deployed in the southern West Bank. Soldiers searched car by car before allowing entry to Hebron, home to some 200,000 Palestinians.
The authorities revealed Sunday that one of the teenagers had called the police emergency line on Thursday night, saying, “We’ve been kidnapped,” though the search did not begin until 3 a.m. Friday after a family reported its son missing.
At Mekor Haim, the West Bank yeshiva where two of the teenagers, Naftali and Gilad, studied, about 200 of their classmates, teachers and people from the surrounding settlements wept as they recited psalms Sunday.
A “Bring Back Our Boys” Facebook campaign — inspired by a similar effort last month for more than 200 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls — included thousands of photographs of people with the slogan printed on signs, or skin.
In an emotional statement broadcast on the radio on Sunday afternoon, Rachel Frankel, Naftali’s mother, spoke as if to her son, saying, “You should know that the people of Israel are turning worlds to bring you home.”