Udai Tamimi, the Palestinian terrorist who 11 days ago shot dead IDF female Sergeant Noa Lazar at the Shoafat checkpoint, was shot and killed yesterday by civilian security guards at the entrance to Mount Adumim.
The determination and sharpness of the two civilian security guards put an end to the extensive hunt for Tamimi, but the fact that a terrorist that the entire security system is looking for managed to carry out an attack is very disturbing, and requires sharp and quick conclusions to be drawn.
Past experience shows that even if Tamimi had not arrived last night on Mount Adumim armed, sooner or later the security system would have laid hands on him.
Tamimi knew this.
For 11 days, extensive searches were conducted for him, in which his relatives and people suspected of having helped him were arrested and interrogated.
But nevertheless, he somehow managed to escape from the hands of the experienced Shin Bet coordinators.
Watch the dramatic documentary: The moments of the elimination of the terrorist in Ma'ale Adumim // Credit: The use is made in accordance with Section 27A of the Copyright Law
The security system always starts from the assumption that an armed terrorist who carries out an attack and manages to escape from the scene, is at a very high level of danger and there is a fear that he will try to carry out another attack.
But since those terrorists usually know that the Israeli security system spares no means to capture them, they usually behave as wanted, that is - hide, change hiding places and are busy with personal survival - and this makes it very difficult for them to carry out another attack.
This is also the reason why there are very few cases in which persecuted terrorists actually try and succeed in carrying out another attack.
Therefore, it would not be unreasonable to state that Tamimi's arrival in the Maale Adumim area armed is no less than a failure of the General Security Service and the other security bodies that were involved in locating him.
But the failure is not only that of the Shin Bet. In the fatal attack in which the late Lazar was killed, the force that stood at the checkpoint did not conduct itself as expected.
During the attack, Tamimi managed to reach the checkpoint, shoot the soldiers who were standing there and escape the scene without being hurt.
Only after he escaped did the soldiers shoot at him, and the pursuit of him did not begin immediately.
The security establishment estimates that Tamimi himself was also surprised by the lack of reaction of the force in the attack, and did not believe that he left the scene alive.
Shi district commander at the scene of the attack: "A major disaster was avoided" // Credit: Yoni Rikner
Even yesterday, after Tamimi was killed during the attempted attack in Ma'ale Adumim, the security establishment did not know where he had been hiding throughout the period, what made him come out of hiding precisely now, why he chose to carry out the attack precisely yesterday and precisely in Ma'ale Adumim.
It is very likely that if Tamimi did not share his intentions with anyone, the answers to these questions will remain open.
managed to escape for two weeks.
The terrorist Udai Tamimi, photo: Arab Networks
Bottom line, although Prime Minister Yair Lapid rushed last night to publish a statement in which he praises the security forces - the IDF, the Shin Bet, the police and the MGB for the elimination of Tamimi, these bodies failed, and in this case, the praise goes only to the two civilian security guards who stood by Yesterday, at the entrance to the top, they were red and managed to neutralize the terrorist thanks to their sharpness, vigilance and professionalism. We can only hope that the same security bodies that were supposed to prevent the attempted attack yesterday will draw the necessary conclusions. One hour earlier is fine.
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