Fifth Column

A major terrorist attack was thwarted in Israel reports Ynet News:

A major suicide attack on Tel Aviv was prevented this Passover, as Shin Bet and IDF forces arrested 19 Hamas members in the West Bank city of Qalqilya for planning to detonate a car bomb containing some 220 lbs of explosives, it was cleared for publication on Tuesday.

Investigations revealed that a would-be suicide bomber, a holder of an Israeli ID obtained through family unification, had already reached the center of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area with the vehicle, but for unknown reasons did not carry out the attack and returned to Qalqilya, where the bomb accidentally exploded.

"The discovery of this ring shows that Hamas is actually beginning to realize its strengthening in the form of attacks," said a security source. Following a recent wave of arrests of Hamas members in Qalqilya, it became apparent that the organization's men in the city were working toward committing attacks against Israel's home front as soon as possible, after a period of re-strengthening and building up abilities. The arrests were carried out before Passover, in order to ensure a safe holiday. The IDF and Shin Bet are currently continuing investigations in an effort to thwart further terror activity.

The investigations showed that the group was plotting to carry out a number of different attacks in Israel in addition to this car bomb. Defense establishment sources explained that the bomber's ID allowed him easy access in and out of Israel, which enabled him to collect information in the central district, and enabled the group to use his car which had an Israeli license plate.

Monitoring Hamas, the defense establishment noticed that from November 2006, the organization has been concentrating on regaining strength, in the form of rearmament, training, and preparing attacks that could be implemented on short notice.The organization has also been concentrating on upgrading its abilities throughout the West Bank, with the help of Iran and Syria.

Information obtained in the investigations showed that Hamas has completed the phase of building power and has moved on to the implementation phase, which includes attacks on Israel's home front. According to the information, the group is still working on planning the execution of major attacks in the near future.
Qalqilya's location and its proximity to central cities in Israel, means there is great mobility in and out of the area, and holders of Israeli IDs are allowed to enter and leave the city freely so as not to harm the life fabric of its residents.

In height of the infatida circa 2002, the Israeli Knesset passed a marriage law that barred Israeli citizens from sponsoring spouses from hostile/enemy state to live in Israel. The Israeli state recognized that hostile enemies of the state were subverting the family unification laws and deliberately marrying Arab Israeli citizens in order to obtain the necessary travel papers to move freely within the Israeli state to launch attacks against Israeli civilians. Under the 2002 marriage law, Israel will not prevent a citizen from marrying a spouse from a hostile/enemy state but there will not be a family unification in Israel except at the discretion of the minister of the immigration portfolio.

In other words, an Israeli could marry a Canadian and sponsor their Canadian spouse to live in Israel but an Israeli citizen could not marry a Palestinian from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip and sponsor that spouse to live in Israel. There is nothing stopping the Israeli citizen from leaving Israel to live in another place with their spouse.

Internationally, the Israelis have been soundly condemned (see this Independent article for background) but this attack highlights the very danger to security which Israeli citizens face under family reunification plans. If you were an Israeli, you need to ask yourself; how many of your family members would you be willing to sacrifice in order for Farrah and Mohammad to live together in Israel?