Israeli reports said Monday that Mahmoud Shaker Hbeishi, the first Arab Israeli to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel, planned to kill Israeli Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz last week.
Hbeishi, 48, from the Arab Israeli village of Abu Snan, north of Galilee, carried out the Nahria blast Sunday which killed three Israelis and injured at least 50.
Israel Radio said that Hbeishi planned last week to kill the leadership of the Israeli military, including Mofaz, when they came to Abu Snan to celebrate the appointment of the first general in the army from the village.
The Jerusalem Post reported Monday, meanwhile, that Israel had demanded several times that the Palestinian Authority arrest Hebeishi after receiving concrete information of his intention to carry out a suicide bombing.
Security officials also knew of Habishi's contacts with Hamas leader Kais Adwan in Jenin, said the paper, which claimed that Adwan is responsible for sending a number of suicide bombers.
“The PA, however, ignored the request to apprehend both Hbeishi and Adwan, and at one point claimed that Habishi was not residing in areas under its control,” said the paper.
Ten days ago, security forces raided Abu Snan and searched several homes, including Hbeishi's.
Habishi had fled the area at the time of the raid, the paper added.
Hebishi, the first Israeli Arab to perpetrate a suicide bomb attack, is a prominent member of the Islamic Movement, and is married to two women and the father of a number of children.
Last year, he ran as the movement's candidate in the local council election, it added.
Ali Shahada, a resident in the village, whose daughter is married to Hbeishi’s son told Israeli Radio that he was “shocked.”
He said that no one in the family is “proud of what he did in Naharia.” he added that no one sees him as a "Shahid," martyr, but as the "victim of the devil." – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
