Recent IDF Operations Directorate report says there were
11 soldier abduction attempts in 2011, and an additional four attempts
since the beginning of 2012 • Most attempts are believed to be
terror-related • IDF says it will launch campaign to prevent soldiers
from hitchhiking.
An Israel Defense Forces
report claiming that there were 11 suspected soldier abduction attempts
in 2011, and an additional four attempts - in the span of two weeks -
since the beginning of 2012, is "very disturbing," the IDF said on
Thursday, according to Army Radio.
The report, released on Thursday by the IDF's
Operations Directorate, said the actual number of reported abduction
attempts was much higher than 11, but a majority of the claims were
filtered out after they were found to be incorrect.
The attempted abduction cases that were
included in the IDF's report were thoroughly investigated. The soldiers
who reported them were considered reliable after extensive questioning
by both the IDF and police.
The IDF called the data, which
was sent to the head of the Operations Directorate Maj.-Gen.Ya'akov
Ayash and to Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, "very disturbing."
The verified cases that occurred last year
occurred at several different points around the country, including at
the Al Jalama checkpoint near Jenin, the Hadera central bus station,
Yehud, Herzliyah, and at the Tel Aviv central bus station.
The IDF said it does not know who was behind
the abduction attempts, and in some cases there were no leads at all.
However, the growing assessment by the army is that most of the cases
were terror-related: Perpetrators attempted to kidnap soldiers with the
aim of using them as "bargaining chips" or snatching their weapons.
Other cases were suspected to be attempted rapes of female soldiers.
Following the release of the report, the IDF
announced it plans to launch a campaign to raise awareness of abduction
attempts among soldiers and their parents. Part of the campaign will
include a test, to be held once every month during the span of a week,
to see whether soldiers hitchhike - something that is forbidden by the
IDF. Soldiers who are caught hitchhiking will be punished. Additionally,
the campaign will include informational talks with soldiers' parents.
The IDF's worrying report comes a week after a
special committee appointed to establish guidelines for how the
government should respond to terrorist abductions of Israelis called on
the government to toughen its stance against terrorist groups in the
event of future abductions.
Former Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar
said lessons from the negotiations over the release of former Hamas
captive Gilad Shalit helped the committee to establish its conclusions.
The report has been categorized as top secret,
according to Israel Radio. While part of it is expected to remain
confidential, it largely discusses a range of topics related to how the
government deals with abductions, from the moment the soldier is
captured, through deterrence and military activities, as well as the
appointment of a body, not a special envoy set up by the prime minister,
to be tasked with securing the release of the hostages.
As Israel Hayom has previously revealed, a
majority of Netanyahu's Forum of Eight top ministers maintain that if a
terrorist group abducts another Israeli, this will lead to war. This
view is also supported by the prime minister himself, who said during
closed discussions that "a change in the rules of the game is
inevitable."
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