Would-be hit men arrested in south Tel Aviv

Police nab two men who were involved in a violent feud with a well-known local underworld figure from Bat Yam.

By BEN HARTMAN
Tel Aviv car bomb 390 (photo credit: BEN HARTMAN)
Tel Aviv car bomb 390
(photo credit: BEN HARTMAN)
Two men on a scooter stalked out their target around 4 a.m. last Friday morning on Salameh Street in south Tel Aviv, waiting to stick a bomb to the side of his car when they were arrested after a short chase.
The arrest by officers from the Yiftach subdistrict was made public on Tuesday, when the two men were brought to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, where police sought to extend their remand for a second time.
According to police, the two men, 31 and 23, were involved in a feud with the target, a well-known local underworld figure from Bat Yam. Police found on the scooter a loaded pistol and a large bomb, which was neutralized by police sappers.
A police source said that one of the men arrested was Yaniv Peretz, who in early February was sitting in a car with his brother Shaul Peretz in south Tel Aviv when a car bomb exploded, leaving the vehicle a charred wreck. Yaniv was lightly wounded in that explosion and Shaul was moderately wounded, losing an eye and a leg. Police believe that the attempted hit last Friday was meant partly as payback for that incident.
Ch.-Insp. Nissim Dawudi, head of the Tel Aviv Central Investigative Unit, said the feud was part of a long-running battle between gangs in Bat Yam, Rishon Lezion and Azur. Dawudi hinted that police had intelligence that such a hit was in the works, and that officers didn’t just happen upon the would-be hit men last Friday.
The past year has seen a series of car bombs and other attempted underworld killings in the Tel Aviv area, including a car bombing in Rishon Lezion on February 28 that left two men dead, part of a war between gangs from west and east Rishon Lezion.