Labor MK Yossi Sarid demanded yesterday that the government acknowledge publicly the existence of a rightwing Jewish underground movement bent on terrorizing Arabs.
Sarid spoke after an Israel-made hand grenade exploded on the doorstep of an Arab home in Hussan village south of Bethlehem on the West Bank. A woman in the house narrowly escaped injury. Police who rushed to the scene ordered the villagers not to open their doors until a search of the area was made. The search yielded three other grenades hidden in a rock pile. All were defused by sappers.
The grenades were believed to have been planted by the some gang that attacked Arab and Christian religious sites in East Jerusalem last week. An anonymous telephone caller said a group calling itself “terror against terror” was responsible. The police are investigating but no arrests have been made.
Sarid charged that Interior Minister Yosef Burg, who is responsible for the police, and other government officials have tried until now to deny the existence of a Jewish terrorist underground. Such an organization cannot be fought unless its existence is recognized, Sarid said.
The newspaper Maariv received an anonymous call today from a person who said: “Last night we acted again, only a little, so that one can see what we can do. Our next targets are Yossi Sarid and Matti Peled.” Gen. (Res.) Matityahu Peled is a Peace Now activist.
According to Maariv, today’s caller sounded like the person who called the paper 10 months ago to identify himself as one of the group responsible for the murder of peace activist Emil Grunzweig by a hand grenade in Jerusalem last February.
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