Isawiya residents planned to use tractor to abduct border policemen and use them in prisoner swap.
By ETGAR LEFKOVITSborder police check ID(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Two Arab residents of east Jerusalem were indicted on Sunday for allegedly plotting to kidnap Border Police officers from a checkpoint on the outskirts of the capital to use as bargaining chips for the release of Hamas prisoners, police said.
The suspects, Abdallah Abid, 21, and Iyad Abid, 19, of the Isawiya neighborhood were arrested last month following an investigation carried out by the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) and Jerusalem Police.
The two men confessed to being Hamas activists and planning a series of attacks against security personnel in and around the city, police said in a statement.
According to the indictment, the two men, who are relatives, planned to drive a tractor into a jeep stationed near their neighborhood and then abduct the security personnel inside the vehicle.
In preparation for the attack, they contacted an arms dealer and collected money to buy a handgun, police said.
A search of their homes turned up an electric stunning device, pellet gun, clubs, knives, masks and gloves, police said.
The suspects are also alleged to have conspired to fly an explosives-laden device over an Israeli base, but their model fell and broke.
The men have also confessed to torching polling stations in Isawiya - located next to the French Hill neighborhood and Mount Scopus - during November 11's municipal elections, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.
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