IDF indicts Palestinians for plot to kill FM Liberman

3 Palestinians from West Bank charged with conspiracy to commit murder for devising assassination plan as response to Gaza war.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Avigdor Liberman (photo credit: REUTERS)
Avigdor Liberman
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The IDF Judea and Samaria Prosecutor’s Office has indicted three Palestinians for a plan to buy a rocket-propelled grenade launcher to blow up Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Though the indictment was filed on Tuesday, no public announcement has been issued by the often close-mouthed IDF Military Courts.
The three men – Ibrahim el-Zir, Ziad el-Zir and Anans Bech, all from Harmala in the West Bank – allegedly decided to assassinate the foreign minister in mid-August to try to stop Operation Protective Edge.
An additional part of the rationale for the plan to go after Liberman was the proximity of Harmala to Liberman’s home in Tekoa (the village is on the other side of Route 356 from the settlement). There were instances when the defendants observed his entourage of vehicles traveling in the area, the indictment filed in the Judea Military Court said.
The plot included measuring the travel time between Herodian and the Beit Fajar junction.
Ibrahim el-Zir, one of two brothers involved, was the leader of the cell and the one who tried to purchase the RPG to murder Liberman, according to the indictment.
Security forces arrested the cell in mid-August, against the background of Ibrahim el-Zir allegedly trying to purchase the RPG, and the suspects have been questioned for extended periods.
The three men were charged with conspiracy to commit murder as opposed to attempted murder, since they were arrested before they could get closer to commission of the crime.
The suspect were not connected with Hamas or another larger organization and appear to have been operating their own cell.