Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08JERUSALEM425
2008-03-07 16:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Jerusalem
Cable title:  

TERRORIST ATTACK IN JERUSALEM KILLS EIGHT

Tags:  KWBG PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KPAL IS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8822
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0425 0671619
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 071619Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0806
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000425 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2018
TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KPAL IS
SUBJECT: TERRORIST ATTACK IN JERUSALEM KILLS EIGHT

REF: JERUSALEM 420

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000425

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2018
TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KPAL IS
SUBJECT: TERRORIST ATTACK IN JERUSALEM KILLS EIGHT

REF: JERUSALEM 420

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. A terrorist attack at Jerusalem's Mercaz
HaRav yeshiva on March 6 left eight students dead and seven
wounded. One of the dead was an Amcit, as was one of the
wounded. Israeli security has confirmed that the attack was
carried out by Ala'a Abu Dhaim from the East Jerusalem
neighborhood of Jebal al-Mukabar. Reuters reported March 7
that Hamas claimed responsibility. PA President Mahmoud
Abbas (Abu Mazen) and PM Salam Fayyad publicly condemned the
attack shortly after it took place. NSF commander Diab Abu
al-Fatah told ConGen Pol Specialist that he had reached out
to West Bank IDF commanders on March 7 to coordinate steps to
lower tension between settlers and Palestinians in the West
Bank. Eshkolot settlement Mayor Tsava Tessler described the
attack to Poloff as a "massacre," stressing that Americans
would never accept such a terrorist attack in the U.S. End
Summary.


2. (C) A terrorist attack at Jerusalem's Mercaz HaRav
yeshiva on March 6 left eight students dead and seven
wounded. One of the dead, Avraham David Moses, a resident of
Efrat, and one of the wounded, Naftali Shitrit from Sderot,
were Amcits. According to Israeli security contacts, the
attack was carried out by Ala'a Abu Dhaim from the East
Jerusalem neighborhood of Jebal al-Mukabar. He was shot by
an off-duty IDF officer living near the school who responded
with a handgun and shot the attacker twice in the head.

PA Condemns Attack, Hamas Blesses It
--------------


3. (C) PA President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) publicly
condemned the attack shortly after it took place. PM Salam
Fayyad also issued a statement of condemnation and told the
Consul General immediately after the attack that he
instructed PA security chiefs to maintain calm in the West
Bank.


4. (C) Residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of
Jebal al-Mukabar told ConGen Political Specialist March 7
that Dhaim was an "Islamist." They said the Israeli police
arrested eleven of his family members during the night of
March 6 and released several, including Dhaim's father, by
the following morning. Dhaim's family opened their home
March 7 to receive condolences, and neighborhood residents
said the family expects to receive Dhaim's body after one
week.


5. (U) In Gaza, several Hamas spokesmen publicly blessed the
attack shortly after it took place. Hamas member Sami Abu
Zuhri told press that the attack is a "reaction to the
Israeli massacres in Gaza" and Hamas' military wing Izz
al-Din al-Qassam Brigades announced that this will not be the
last attack. Celebratory gunfire was reported in Gaza on
March 6 after the attack. On March 7 Reuters reported that
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack on the yeshiva.

PASF on High Alert
--------------


6. (C) On March 7, NSF commander Diab Abu al-Fatah told
ConGen Political Specialist that Abu Mazen and PM Salam
Fayyad issued clear instructions to PASF to prevent any
friction between West Bank settlers and Palestinians. Abu
al-Fatah said he reached out to West Bank IDF commanders
early March 7 to coordinate on these steps to reduce tensions.

Settlers Call Attack "Massacre"
--------------


7. (C) Mayor of Eshkolot settlement Tsava Tessler told
Poloff March 7 that the attack on the Yeshiva, which is
associated with the settler movement, is "hard and painful,
but sadly it's a part of life in Israel." She added, "Hamas
does not frighten us." Describing the attack as a
"massacre," Tessler stressed that Americans would never
accept such a terrorist attack in the U.S. She reported a
slight increase in security near Eshkolot, emphasizing,
however, that the residents of Eshkolot are "just trying to
live life normally."
WALLES