High Alert over Rosh Hashanah
CBNNews.com
September 12, 2007
CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - As families make their final preparations for the holiday of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year, literally, "the head of the year"), which begins at sundown Wednesday, the nation's security forces are on high alert for potential terror attacks.
Following Tuesday's Kassam rocket attack on an army base near the border with the Gaza Strip, the Defense Ministry clamped a full closure on the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza, which will be reevaluated at the end of the two-day Rosh Hashanah holiday.
According to
YNet news service, the security establishment has received eight specific warnings and dozens of general threats of potential terror attacks over the New Year holiday, ranging from rockets and suicide bombings to sniper attacks and kidnapping attempts.
Border and municipal police forces will be deployed in high profile areas such as malls, bus stations, recreational facilities, supermarkets and in synagogues when the holiday begins in earnest at sundown.
Beefed up security forces have been deployed at the Kotel (Western Wall), where many Jews pray for the holiday.
Under the command of Jerusalem District Police Major-General Ilan Franco, municipal police have been supplemented by highway patrol units throughout Jerusalem, including the Old City.
With the Islamic month of Ramadan coinciding with Rosh Hashanah this year, Jerusalem police are limiting participation in Friday prayer on the Temple Mount to Muslim men over the age of 45 and women 35 and older, who hold proper documentation.
Police officers will also be out in force on the country's highways.
Source: YNet news service
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