A device that appeared to be a bomb that was found in the
Central Bus Station and caused severe disruption in
Yerushalayim turned out to have apparently been planted by
opponents of the Gaza Disengagement. Senior police officials
expressed their outrage Tuesday morning over the fake bomb at
the Jerusalem bus station that was found on Monday night at
around 7:30 p.m.
The bomb, which was found in the station's washrooms, had the
words, `This disengagement will blow up in our faces,'
written in a note attached. The device consisted of an alarm
clock, wires, and a 12 kilogram (25 pound) gas container
(balloon). The threat forced police to evacuate the facility
and caused extensive traffic jams throughout the city.
Jerusalem police chief Cmdr. Ilan Franko harshly criticized
the stunt and said, "A great deal of anguish to citizens
occurred."
Security experts were surprised that anyone had managed to
penetrate security at the station, which is considered one of
the most secure sites in the country. Station employees will
be questioned to determine if anyone had assisted the
perpetrators.
Far right activists claimed the entire affair was a Shin Bet
provocation and that it is impossible to smuggle a 12 kg. gas
balloon into the heavily secured station.
Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz of the Labor Party said on
Tuesday morning that the planting of a dummy bomb by pullout
foes in the Jerusalem bus station on Monday evening was an
act of terror.
"This is neither a protest nor a demonstration. This is an
act of terror, Jewish terror. Jewish terrorism aimed against
Jews," he said.
A Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) official on Tuesday
morning told members of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and
Justice Committee that in recent months, the Shin Bet had
arrested 30 far-right activists on suspicion of illegal
activity. According to the official, indictments have been
filed against 20 of them.
Initially, police sappers were rushed to the scene of the
heavily-guarded city station, while hundreds of passengers
making their way home were escorted out of the building and
traffic was halted in the area, causing major traffic jams
throughout the central Jerusalem area. For an hour, police
sappers worked to neutralize the device, which they
eventually determined was a dummy explosive.
Security at the central bus station is among the tightest in
the city. All people entering the building must pass through
a metal detector, while all bags are X-rayed.
This is not the first such incident. Over the last several
months opponents of the Gaza pullout plan have placed fake
bombs on several major Jerusalem thoroughfares.
In March, a suitcase with a note on it denouncing the
withdrawal from Gaza was left on a main Jerusalem street and
was treated as a potential bomb. The bag, which had been
placed near the Machane Yehuda market, had on it a message
reading, `The cancellation of the disengagement plan will
prevent suspicious objects, real or otherwise.'
Also on Monday, anti-disengagement activists glued shut the
locks to the Housing and Construction Ministry's Rechovot
offices. They left a note reading: "The people are against
Sharon, and Sharon is against the people. Jews do not deport
Jews."
Fringe elements of the disengagement protesters seem to want
to cause as large a disruption as possible, without any clear
purpose. Some of those arrested caused flooding in an attempt
to disrupt the prisons and waste water. Other threw nails and
oil on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.
These acts were all condemned by the responsible leadership
of the protests but they nonetheless caused considerable loss
of sympathy for protests against disengagement among the
general public.
