Terror 101 – always changing forms

The US 9/11 Commission suggested the 9/11 terror attacks represented a ‘failure of imagination’ by security and intelligence agencies. While that criticism is valid for US agencies, I think perhaps it is the hallmark of all national securities when dealing with terrorism 101.

This Jerusalem Post report, concerning a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem who has run a-muck with a bulldozer in the city’s streets is a prime example of how the nature of terror constantly changes.

At least four people were killed and 44 were wounded - one seriously, one moderately and 42 lightly - on Wednesday afternoon when a bulldozer driver went on a rampage in downtown Jerusalem.

Police said that the driver plowed his vehicle into two public buses, toppling them over, and slammed into several cars. A soldier on leave took the gun from an elite policeman at the scene and shot the terrorist dead. The soldier, Moshe Klessner, 18, is the brother-in-law of IDF officer David Shapira, who killed the terrorist in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack, Channel 10 reported.

Witnesses said the driver was killed after a struggle with two policemen. One of the elite policemen was lightly wounded, apparently by gunfire, indicating that the terrorist was armed. Police said the incident was definitely a terror attack, emphasizing that the terrorist was carrying an Israeli identity card and was a resident of east Jerusalem.

The attack, at the junction of Jaffa Street and Rechov Sha'arei Yisreal, set off a panic in the area. Dozens of people ran through the streets to flee the scene of the attack and a car was still stuck under the bulldozer. Police said it was unclear how many people were in the trapped vehicle. The bulldozer was apparently being used for construction work on the Jerusalem light rail project.

It certainly gives new meaning to the old phrase ‘ being ploughed,’ and in case anyone mistakes my sympathies - Kol HaKavod to the off-duty soldier.