Israeli Blacksmith Murdered in Reminder Terror Continues

Israel has received a painful reminder that terror will persist despite the historic accord reached with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

On the eve of Yom Kippur last Friday, the stabbed body of Yigal Vaknin, 22, was found in an orchard near Moshav Batzra, in the Sharon Valley.

Attached to the body was a note in Arabic saying the murder was in revenge for the killing of activists of Hamas, the Muslim fundamentalist organization that violently rejects the PLO’s agreement with Israel.

A Hamas spokesman later claimed credit for the murder, which he said was carried out to prove to Israel and the PLO that the Palestinian uprising, known as the intifada, would continue and even escalate.

Another terrorist attack was prevented Sunday when a Muslim fundamentalist blew himself up while preparing a car bomb in the Gaza Strip.

Cabinet ministers were briefed on this latest escalation in terrorist attacks at their weekly meeting Sunday.

But they were told by representatives of the security forces that the internal security situation has by and large improved in recent weeks, and that the PLO was not involved in any hostile activities.

Vaknin, a blacksmith and a tractor driver who completed his army service four months ago, was discovered last Friday by his girlfriend, who worried after not hearing from him since the previous Wednesday. According to the coroner’s report, he had been killed last Thursday morning, after struggling with his attackers.

A year ago, a local farmer, Avraham Kinsler, 84, was murdered under similar circumstances in a nearby orchard. His murderer turned out to be a young resident of Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, who was sentenced last November to life imprisonment.