Police and the ISA announced on Monday that several weeks ago
they had arrested a resident of the Old City of Jerusalem who
admitted that he was part of a terror cell that hoped to bomb
the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) or a synagogue in Meah
Shearim.
The suspect is Hussam Nablusi, an East Jerusalemite member of
the cell, was arrested on May 16. He was to use his access to
the PMO as a delivery company driver to drop off a 15-
kilogram bomb. He was to set off the bomb by remote control
with a cellular phone. His interrogation led investigators to
the bomb that had already been smuggled into Jerusalem.
Security sources said that the plot was not aimed at the
prime minister, but rather at his office for the propaganda
value in order to prove that Palestinian organizations can
strike strategic and symbolic installations inside Israel.
Sources said that it was highly unlikely that Nablusi would
have made it inside, past security at the PMO. But all the
suspected terrorist needed to do was to leave the bomb at the
security gate and set it off. The terrorist organizations
would claim that as a major victory.
The bomb was discovered in northern Jerusalem near the
village of Bir Naballah last month. According to the security
sources, the cell had several alternative plans in case they
were unable to penetrate the PMO. One possible target was a
synagogue in Meah Shearim.
The cell was arrested on the basis of intelligence
information that prompted a major alert for the capital.
Nablusi, 38, was arrested on the basis of the information at
his Old City home. Security sources said that he had access
to various government offices, including the PMO, in his work
delivering printed materials.
Three days after his arrest his cousin, who had recruited the
delivery man into the cell, was arrested. The cousin, Said
Tabange, subsequently incriminated the two A-Ram residents
who received the bomb and brought it into Jerusalem, leaving
it in its hiding place for Nablusi to retrieve.
Analysts said that this pattern indicates the difficulty that
Palestinian criminals have in promulgating attacks in the
north now that the security fence is in place. The terrorists
have been trying to use residents of east Jerusalem to carry
explosives since they have Israeli identity cards and thus
have easier access to Jewish areas.
