Yesterday, Wednesday, July 2, 2008, a Palestinian terrorist attacked Israeli civilian commuters on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem with a bulldozer. Preliminary reports indicate four murdered and seventy-six injured. This morbid count would have been considerably higher if not for a soldier on leave who took the gun from an elite policeman at the scene and shot the terrorist dead. The soldier, Moshe Klessner, 18, is the brother-in-law of IDF officer David Shapira, who killed the terrorist in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack earlier this year, Israel’s Channel 10 reported.

 The Zionist Organization of America’s (ZOA) Director of its Israel Office in Jerusalem, Jeff Daube, called on the Government of Israel to immediately announce that under no circumstances will there be a release of Palestinian prisoners as previously reported in view of yesterday’s disaster.

“As I watch the preliminary reports of this carnage on television coming in, I cannot help but think about the reports that the Israeli government approved the release of terrorist prisoners, the likes of irredentist baby killer Samir Kuntar who vowed to return to terror. 80% of released terrorists in the past have returned to some form of support of terrorism,” Daube said, “while 14% are rearrested for terror activity.”

“This is what we get for appeasement and endless concessions? What can you expect when Abbas, the leader of half the Palestinians states that violence is still an option in the future while the Hamas leaders of the other half “bless” attacks and promise more attacks as their minions routinely fire rifles in the air and hand out candy in celebration,” Daube continued. “These attacks will not cease until Palestinian hate indoctrination ceases and Israeli concessions are no longer characterized as victories for violence.”

“It was just a matter of time.” Daube concluded. “It was not due to lack of effort or will that the terrorists have not been more successful. Only the superb work of the IDF, enhanced military intelligence, and the IDF presence in Judea and Samaria, prevented other attacks like the one yesterday.”

Morton Klein, ZOA National President, remarked that he was told in a private conversation with former Chief of Staff, General Moshe Ya’alon that there are dozens of terrorist attempts constantly being prevented by the IDF. This was borne out in a terrorism report (http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/terrorism_2006e.pdf) which found an 80% increase between 2005 (154) and 2006 (279) in the number of attempted suicide attacks interdicted at various stages by the IDF.

The ZOA mourns this tragic loss of life, extends its most heartfelt condolences to the grieving families, and prays for the speedy recovery of the injured victims.