Seek Perpetrators of West Bank Attack

Security agencies continued the search for clues to the identity of the persons responsible for yesterday’s multiple bombing attacks against Arabs on the West Bank, But 24 hours after the outrage no arrests were mode, nobody was questioned and there was no indication what direction the investigation will take.

The blasts severely crippled Mayor Bassam Shaka of Nablus, who had both his legs amputated, Mayor Karin Khollaf of Ramallah, who lost his left foot and may lose his right, and blinded a Druze police sapper, Suleiman Herbawi. Seven other Arabs were wounded when a bomb exploded near a school in the center of Hebron and two Arab youths were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers later when they disobeyed on order to halt near Beit Zeit.

Premier Menachem Begin who is also serving as Defense Minister, ordered a comprehensive investigation into what he described as “crimes of the worst kind.” Some Israelis were suggesting today that the bombings may have been the work of Arab terrorists intended to exacerbate tension between Arabs and Jews or to settle a private feud with the mayors. But Shaka, Khollaf and Mayor Ibrahim Tawil of El Bireh, who narrowly escaped injury when a bomb exploded at the door of his garage, are among the most intensely nationalistic and pro-Palestine Liberation Organization leaders on the West Bank.

That, and the fact that the bombings occurred exactly one month to the day after six yeshiva students were killed in a terrorist ambush in Hebron, supported the widespread belief in Israel that the well-coordinated attacks were carried out by Jewish extremists, probably as an act of vengeance.

BELIEVED WORK OF PROFESSIONALS

An anonymous telephone caller to she newspaper Haaretz last night claimed that a group called “Bnei Zion” was responsible for the bombings. The caller, who reportedly spoke Hebrew without a foreign accent, insisted that his group was not connected with the Gush Emunim. Maariv received an anonymous telephone call later from a person who said an organization called “Counter Terror Unit” carried out the attacks in revenge for attacks on Jews on the West Bank.

Neither of the groups mentioned is known to security agencies. According to some sources, it is possible that the names were made up to camouflage the identity of known extremist groups. Rabbi Meir Kahane’s ultra-nationalist “Kach” movement disclaimed any link with the attacks but applauded them.

Security officials said that the bombings, timed to occur almost simultaneously although in widely separated locations, indicated the work of a highly professional group.

Meanwhile, Jewish settlements on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip were placed on alert for possible retaliatory acts by Arabs. As of noon yesterday, every Jewish vehicle in the occupied territories was escorted by at least two armed guards. The Council of Jewish Settlements in the territories objected vehemently, claiming that the movement of Jews was being restricted. The Council officially deplored the bombings which they termed an act of provocation intended to deepen the hatred between Arabs and Jews. But they also condemned the Peace Now movement and several opposition factions in the Knesset which blamed the militant Gush Emunim for the outrage.