Report cites terrorist acts amid fears of new attacks

JERUSALEM, March 10 (JTA) — Israel may be facing more mass terrorist attacks. This is the assessment of the head of the General Security Service, Ami Ayalon, who told a Knesset committee Tuesday that the Hamas fundamentalist group was planning more mass attacks against Israel. Presenting a semi-annual report to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Ayalon said that 100 terrorist attempts were thwarted last year. Ayalon’s remarks came as an alleged Hamas terrorist currently on trial justified his actions based on remarks of Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, who said that if he had been born a Palestinian, he probably would have joined a terrorist group. Ayalon said that despite a public impression of fewer terrorist attacks, there were a total of 463 incidents, ranging from gas bombs to bomb attacks, last year, compared to 268 in 1996. He attributed the public perception of fewer attacks to the fact that 1996 included a wave of suicide bus attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which exacted high tolls. Ayalon said Hamas has shown a desire to carry out more mass killings, and that it is striving to carry out attacks on a larger scale. Meanwhile, Barak’s remarks, made during a television interview, and the fallout from it sparked a new political firestorm. Speaking at his trial at the Lod military court, Iman Kapisha cited Barak’s remarks in defending his role as a Hamas soldier who is, in his words, trying to liberate his lands. Kapisha and three other members of the Tsurif cell have been charged with planning the bombing at Tel Aviv’s Cafe Apropos — in which three women were killed — the kidnap-murder of Israeli soldier Sharon Edri, and other shooting attacks. The comment sparked fresh criticism of Barak. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped that Barak would recognize the error in his remarks — and admit his mistake. For his part, Barak lashed out at the right wing, accusing it of entering into a “bizarre and embarrassing alliance” with terrorists to gain political mileage. He said he had already said in the interview that “the methods of Palestinian terrorists are horrific.” Barak said what was encouraging terrorism was the lack of progress in the peace process.