Tragedy on the Road to Ariel Arouses a Mixture of Feelings

Residents of this large Jewish settlement near Nablus often talk about being nervous when driving on local roads, particularly when they are traveling with children and especially when they take the dangerous highway that cuts across the West Bank, connecting the settlements of Samaria with the coast.

The cost of that fear was played out tragically Tuesday night, in a bizarre incident that left an infant girl dead, her father wounded, and residents and soldiers debating how best to protect Jewish settlers living in the administered territories.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, Danny Hamtzani, 31, drove his car past the Palestinian village of Mas’ha, on the winding road toward his home in Ariel.

His two children, Ordan, 4, and Ittay, almost 2, were seated in the back of the car. They had just visited family in Petach Tikva. The mother, Orly, was not with them. She was due to return home later from her errands across the “Green Line” that divides pre-1967 Israel from the administered territories.

As Hamtzani finished rounding the curve, he spotted suspicious lights on the left side of the road. Judging from the evidence gathered from him at his hospital bed Tuesday night, he thought these were firebombs about to be thrown at him.

But according to an eyewitness and testimony gathered by the army, Hamtzani acted strangely. Instead of halting his car and either waiting for the attack to come or firing toward the suspicious lights, he drove right past the potential danger.

He then put the car in reverse and sped some 90 yards backward toward the flickering lights, pulled out his pistol and fired.

“I was driving just behind him,” recounted Yirmiyahu Turjeman, “when I suddenly saw him stopping, reversing and shooting. I couldn’t understand why he was doing it, and then fire was returned, and the car fled from the scene.”

Unfortunately for Hamtzani and his children, the menacing lights were not those of attackers, but rather of a squad of Israeli soldiers. They were lying in ambush for potential stone-throwers or firebombers.

DAILY CONFRONTATION WITH DANGER

The soldiers, who believed they were being attacked by Arabs, returned fire at the car, having no inkling that their target was a Jewish father and his two children. Ittay was struck in the head and died Wednesday morning after an operation at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer.

Her father suffered moderate wounds in his chest and shoulders, and also underwent an operation, at Belinson Hospital. Ordan came out of the tragic incident with minor scratches.

The army immediately ordered an investigation of the incident, the results of which were still unknown Wednesday.

The key eyewitness, Danny Hamtzani himself, was lying in the hospital, too shocked to recount his version of the incident. He was not told that his daughter was about to be buried at nearby Segula cemetery in Petach Tikva.

Ariel was quiet today, in contrast to the days following other violent incidents of the 20-month-old intifada, which has taken its toll on this West Bank outpost.

There was an air of sadness, but also of uneasiness and frustration. People were talking of an unfortunate tragedy, but no one dared say that perhaps it could have been avoided, had not Hamtzani fired his pistol.

“I don’t want to judge his behavior,” said Turjeman, the eyewitness. “I don’t know if the whole incident could have been avoided. One cannot be smart unless one would find oneself in the same situation.”

Neighbors on the quiet Ariel street where the Hamtzanis live complained. “There should be more cooperation,” said Kobi Mussan. “The army should notify us when it operates in the area.”

Residents of Ariel, like settlers throughout the territories, are caught in a difficult dilemma. The wish to continue business as usual is foundering against a daily confrontation with danger.

“If we have to go to Tel Aviv, should we leave our children at home and go?” asked an angry Mattana Zehava. “Or should we simply close ourselves in Ariel and never leave?”