In the hours after the three yeshiva students were kidnapped in Gush Etzion on Thursday night the eve of 15 Sivan, Shai (Shomron-Yehuda) Police were busy detaining youth in Yitzhar with the cooperation of the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet).

Honenu released a statement “The security forces have lost their moral compass and have forgotten who is a friend and who is an enemy.”

On motzei Shabbos Shelach 5774 the failure of Shai Police to properly handle the kidnapping started to become clear. The first report of the kidnapping was received at 22:25 on Thursday, however only at approximately 03:00 the following morning did the police begin to respond. Honenu reports that during those very hours policemen from the Shai Police in cooperation with the ISA were busy planning and carrying out detentions in Yitzhar.

At approximately 03:00 on Friday, June 15 Sivan, large numbers of police, Yassam, detectives and agents of the Jewish Department of the ISA raided Yitzhar and detained two brothers aged 16 and 18.

The two brothers were taken to the Ariel Police Station where they were interrogated on suspicion of involvement with several incidents which occurred in the area of Yitzhar over the past few months. Honenu attorney Adi Kedar turned to the police to clarify the reason for their detention and after several hours they were released to house arrest. The brothers report that while they were at the police station they heard reports of concern of a kidnapping.

However it turns out that even on Sunday morning, despite the announcements of significant efforts by the security forces to locate the captives, investigators in the Central Unit of the Shai Police were busy dealing specifically with detained Jews and summoned the two brothers for another interrogation. The interrogators even went so far as to summon the brothers’ father to give testimony at the police station, apparently in order to apply inappropriate pressure on the youths.

The brothers, as they were on their way to being interrogated on the morning of Sunday `7 Sivan, announced that they would not cooperate with the interrogators and would give an affidavit stating that they “do not intent to cooperate with the police who harass Jews at a time when there are Jewish youths captive in the hands of Arabs.”

Honenu adds that on the same Sunday morning a female resident of Yitzhar also was summoned by the Central Unit of Shai Police for interrogation.

“The security forces have lost their moral compass and have forgotten who is a friend and who is an enemy,” responded Honenu to the conduct of the police. “There is a strong connection between the lack of proportionality in the system, the allotment of huge budgets to the special units for the treatment of Jews, the failures of the police in handling reports of the kidnapping of Jews, and the increase in Arab terror. When the heads of state in Israel declare that graffiti is terror, we receive most painful reminders which teach us what terror genuinely is.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)