Eilat Israel, Palestine Economy Hit By Terrorism

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem ---- January 29, 2007..... For years, Eilat, a beautiful, charming tourist port city in Israel's south, has not known terrorism. Eilat was never a part of the Palestine Israel equation. The Palestinians never associated Eilat with Gaza or the West Bank. Until today.

A lone Palestinian terrorist blew himself up this morning in a bakery in Eilat. The attack murdered three people - the two young bakery owners and an employee.

The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades and Islamic Jihad terror groups claimed responsibility for today’s suicide attack in Israel and identified the bomber as Muhammad Faisal al-Siksik, 21, from northern Gaza.

Islamic Jihad said the bomber reached Israel from Jordan. But both Jordan and Israel security officials denied this. Siksik left Gaza and entered Egypt, said Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israel police. The terrorist then walked across Egypt’s desert border with Israel, which is aggressively patrolled, but has no fence or other barrier for most of its length. After entering Israel, the terrorist reached a road north of Eilat and hitched a ride from an Israeli driver.

That Israel driver turned out to be reserve IDF officer - Lt. Col. Yossi Voltinsky. Less than 15 minutes before the deadly bombing, police received a call from Voltinsky alerting local security teams that he had just transported a hitchhiker who aroused his suspicions.

Voltinsky and other witnesses said the Palestine suicide bomber was wearing a black coat and carrying a black bag. Israel police were immediately dispatched to the scene, but before they could arrive, the terrorists walked into the bakery, a few hundred yards from where he got out of the car, and detonated his explosives.

Benny Mazgini, an Israeli who witnessed the attack, told Israel radio that he said he saw a man wearing a black jacket and carrying a black bag on the street outside the bakery. “I thought it was odd because it was very hot and I told myself, ‘Why is that idiot dressed that way?’ ” Seconds later, the bomber detonated his explosive in the Lechamim bakery, tearing the inside apart, shattering windows and leaving the pavement outside covered with blood and body parts.

The only terror attack to strike Eilat since the outbreak of Palestinian violence in 2000 came in 2005, when terrorists linked to al-Qaida fired three rockets from the Jordan side of the border. It was said that they were aiming for an American naval ship which was docked near by. The last deadly attack in the city was in May 1992, when Palestinian terrorists swam to an Eilat beach and killed a security guard.

Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that: “We shall draw the conclusions and learn the lessons and instruct our security people to continue their ongoing and never-ending struggle against terrorists and those who send them.”

Eilat was an easy target. Although Israel has several security checkpoints set up on roads surrounding the entrance to the desert city, the IDF still placed most of its defenses and travel restrictions on Palestinians coming from the West Bank.

The IDF has asked for the erection of an electronic fence along the Israel - Egypt border but due to the cost - NIS 1.5 billion, the money has yet to be transferred. At the moment some five battalions patrol the 220-km border. Funds that were meant to be transferred to the fence were diverted to other projects as a result of the Lebanon war this past summer.

"The threat has not fully materialized itself yet even with this suicide attack," a high-ranking IDF officer from the Southern Command told reporters. "I am concerned that this is just the beginning and the attacks will continue to happen." According to the officer, in 2006, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) caught over 100 Palestinian terrorists who originated in the Gaza Strip and tried crossing into Israel from the Sinai Desert in Egypt. Among the terrorists were suicide bombers, weapons experts on their way to establish terror infrastructure in the West Bank and masterminds of soldier-kidnapping plots.

IDF Division 80, headed by Brig.-Gen. Imad Faris, is in charge of patrolling the Israel - Egyptian border which runs for 200 kilometers without a fence or as the officer said: "Any other mental or physical barrier." Three IDF infantry companies, commanded by a Lt.-Col., patrol the border area around Eilat. Additional undercover units are also used for ambushes and patrols in the vicinity. Three weeks ago, Faris's division conducted a major exercise during which it drilled a terrorist attack along the lines of the suicide bombing in Eilat on Monday. According to the officer, the Egyptians could also do more to assist in preventing the terror infiltrations from Gaza, through the Sinai and into Israel. "Egyptians can also do more just like we can," he said. "But before we look at what they can do, we need to look at what we can do."

It has been nine months that Israel has been without a suicide terror bombing. The last suicide bombing in Israel was an Islamic Jihad attack on April 17, 2006, when 11 people were murdered at a small restaurant in Tel Aviv.

In a Gaza City news conference following the blast, a masked spokesman for Islamic Jihad said the bombing came in retaliation for Israel defensive raids against Palestine groups. On its Web site, Islamic Jihad also said the bombing was aimed at redirecting the world’s focus away from the internal Palestinian fighting in Gaza. “The operation has a clear message to the Palestinian rivals,” Islamic Jihad said on its Web site. “It is necessary to end the infighting and point the guns toward the occupation that has hurt the Palestinian people.”

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, described the attack as a “natural response” to Israeli military operations against the Palestinians. “So long as there is occupation, resistance is legitimate,” he said.

Three people arrived at Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat following the bombing and were treated for shock. Bomb experts said that the explosive weighed less than 10 kilograms, and that it appeared to be somewhat different from bombs detonated in earlier attacks. After the bombing, Eilat Police Chief Asst.-Cmdr. Bruno Stein deployed police at checkpoints at all entrances and exits from Eilat. "Our assumption is that it's not one bomber, and there might be more bombers in Eilat right now," Stein said shortly after the attack, adding that in light of the bombing, Eilat police would have to reassess their security assumptions. Following the bombing, police also raised the level of alert nationwide.

Increased presence of Israel soldiers, police and private security guards appeared on major city streets and in and around shopping centers.

The White House condemned the suicide bomb attack in Eilat, Israel. "Failure to act against terror will inevitably effect relations between that government and the international community and undermine the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own," White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a written statement. "The burden of responsibility for preventing terrorist attacks rests with the Palestinian Authority government," Snow said. "We also condemn those Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, that condone these barbaric actions."

The Eilat terror attack had no justification, a UN Middle East peace envoy said this evening. Alvaro de Soto added that he felt pain for the families of the casualties and that he fully condemned the attack, which he called "unacceptable under any circumstances."

Israel tourism experts do not see any damage sustained to Eilat's thriving domestic and international tourism and tours market.

"I came to Eilat today to open another travel agency here," Zeev Refael, CEO of Mazada Tours told the Israel News Agency. "We have offices in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with professional and warm contacts in Egypt and Jordan. And I can tell you that Eilat is more secure than New York, Tokyo, Paris and London. The bomber picked a bakery in the outskirts of Eilat because there was no way he could have ever made it to a hotel or major tourist area. We have layers upon layers of security, with police, IDF, Israel Security Services, private security and surveillance cameras watching every inch of this resort town."

Joe Yudin, one of Israel's most respected tour guides agreed.
"The only people that the Palestinians hurt today were themselves."

While Hamas and other terror groups state the reason behind today's bombing is "occupation" one would question "what" occupation as Israel unilaterally left Gaza and many areas of the West Bank.
As for "resistance" even after Israel left Gaza and southern Lebanon, terrorists have continued to fire Qassam and Katusha rockets into Israel. So it is evident that these terrorists are not seeking compromise nor peace but rather in the worlds of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "we seek to wipe Israel off the map."

But Israel is still very much on the map.

Today's suicide bomber did not hurt Israel. He did not even scratch this small Israel Red Sea resort town. Rather, he destroyed the hopes of many families in Palestine who wish for peace and with peace a more stable economy. The suicide bomber, who was unemployed, never realized that he was now creating more unemployment and suffering for his family, friends and thousands of Palestinians who rely upon Israel for work and the global community for investment.

During more than six years of Palestinian violence, 540 people have been killed in 130 Palestinian suicide bombings. Some of the deadliest suicide attacks in Israel:

Jan. 29, 2007: A bombing at a bakery in the southern town of Eilat murders three.

April 17, 2006: A terrorist kills 11 Israelis in Tel Aviv.

Dec. 5, 2005: An attacker kills five at a shopping mall in the coastal town of Netanya.

Oct. 26, 2005: A bomber kills five people at a falafel stand in Hadera.

July 12, 2005: Islamic terrorism murders five at a shopping mall in Netanya.

Feb. 25, 2005: In the first attack after a truce, a bomber blows himself up in crowd near a nightclub in Tel Aviv, killing four.

Aug. 31, 2004: Two bombers set off explosives in buses in Beersheba, killing 16.

March 14, 2004: Two bombers attack Ashdod port, killing 10.

Jan. 29, 2004: Bomber on a bus on Gaza Street in Jerusalem kills 11 people.

Oct. 4, 2003: Bomber murders 19 people at a seaside restaurant in Haifa.

Sept. 9, 2003: A bomber kills eight Israeli soldiers at a bus stop near an army base outside Tel Aviv.

Aug. 19, 2003: A bomber blows up a bus in Jerusalem, killing 23 people.

June 11, 2003: A bus bombing on central Jerusalem's Jaffa Street kills 17.

March 5, 2003: A bombing on a bus in Haifa kills 17 people.

Jan. 5, 2003: Two bombers strike the Neve Shaanan pedestrian mall in Tel Aviv, killing 23.

Oct. 21, 2002: A bombing on a bus in northern Israel kills 14 people.

June 18, 2002: A bomber kills 19 in southern Jerusalem.

June 5, 2002: A bus bombing near Megiddo Junction in northern Israel kills 17.

May 7, 2002: A bomb attack at a pool hall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion kills 15.

March 31, 2002: A bomber kills 15 at a restaurant in Haifa.

March 27, 2002: The Passover Massacre. An attacker kills 29 people in Netanya during a ritual Seder meal at a hotel dining room at the start of Passover.

March 9, 2002: A bomber kills 11 at Jerusalem's Moment Cafe.

March 2, 2002: An attack kills 11 in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood.

Dec. 2, 2001: A terrorist murders 15 innocent civilians on a bus in Haifa.

Dec. 1, 2001: Two bombers strike Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall, killing 11.

Aug. 9, 2001: An attack at a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem kills 15.

June 1, 2001: A bomber murders 21 people, mostly teenagers, at the seaside Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv.