Police suspect soldier kidnapped near Ben Gurion Airport

Police spring up roadblocks around area, scramble helicopters to join ground units trying to prevent kidnappers from fleeing region.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Police suspect an IDF soldier has been kidnapped from the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday. Police sprung up roadblocks around the area and scrambled helicopters to join ground units which are trying to prevent the kidnappers from leaving the area with the soldier. "We do suspect a soldier has been kidnapped," a police spokesman told The Jerusalem Post. "The police's central district was involved in efforts to track down the kidnappers, but this has now become a national Israel Police effort," he added. Police units are operating according to a plan drawn up to deal with kidnappings inside the country. In July, Abd al-Rahman Talalka was indicted on terrorism charges at Beersheba Magistrate's Court. According to his indictment sheet, Talalka was sent to Israel to establish a terrorist infrastructure, and was charged with "plotting to kidnap or murder a soldier and use him as a bargaining chip in negotiations," and "planning to purchase chemicals to produce bombs." In May, the state charged five Israeli Arabs with belonging to a terrorist organization that planned to kidnap IDF soldiers and detonate bombs, according to an indictment filed in the Haifa District Court. The gang was uncovered by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the police, and the charges against them include conspiracy to help the enemy in wartime, membership in an unlawful association, contact with a foreign agent, and weapons offenses. The penalty for assisting the enemy in wartime is the death penalty or life imprisonment. Dan Izenberg contributed to this report