Amona commander's car attacked

Wing mirrors of Cmdr. Yisrael Yitzhak's car broken and taken in Yavneh.

By YIGAL GRAYEFF
amona destruction 298 (photo credit: Channel 10)
amona destruction 298
(photo credit: Channel 10)
The car of yet another senior police officer who took part in the evacuation of Amona was attacked on Tuesday, although unlike in two previous instances, the authorities believed it probably was not a revenge strike. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the wing mirrors of Judea and Samaria police chief Cmdr. Yisrael Yitzhak were broken and taken from his car in Yavneh, where he lived. "It seems that it was the work of children, because if it was a serious criminal the car would have been burned," a police source said. Yitzhak was the commander of the forces that led the evacuation and demolition of nine houses at the outpost of Amona in February, when police clashed with thousands of protestors who tried to stop the operation. Because threats had been made against him and other officers involved, police had an open and undercover presence in the area around Yitzhak's house. Indeed, Judea and Samaria spokesman Superintendent Moshe Fintzy said the proximity of police patrol cars in the area probably prevented the attacker causing greater damage to the vehicle, although the perpetrator wasn't seen and there were no suspects. Yitzhak may already have been the victim of one attempted attack. An explosive package was sent to his house when he wasn't home, and although his daughter was in, she refused to answer the front door and accept the delivery. However, Yitzhak had not been allowing the threats to affect the way he carried out his job, said Fintzy. "He is doing what he needs to do and will continue to carry out his duties," the spokesman said. The incident on Tuesday was the third attack on the vehicle of an officer who was involved in the evacuation of Amona. On Friday, vandals torched the car of Hadera resident Dep.-Cmdr. Haim Padlon, who was an intelligence officer in the Judea and Samaria Police. He was supervising the investigation into the protestors who took part in the violence that occurred at the outpost. About a month ago, arsonists torched the vehicle of the deputy commander of Judea and Samaria Police, Lt.-Cmdr. Meir Bokovza. In both cases, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra blamed right-wing activists who were angry at what happened at Amona. In the clashes, more than 250 people were injured, including over 80 members of the security forces. The Knesset has set up a committee to investigate charges of police brutality.