ISRAEL - Police on high alert for holidays (Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur)

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Last update - 22:56 17/09/2001

Police on high alert for holidays; armed guards at synagogues

By Anat Cygielman, Ha'aretz Correspondent, and Ha'aretz Service

Thousands of police and soldiers went on maximum alert Monday for feared terror strikes to coincide with the Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur holiday period, and police officials said that predictions that Palestinian militants would refrain from attacks in the wake of the New York and Washington terror strikes had proven incorrect.

Israeli analysts had said that Palestinians would curb suicide bombings and other operations in order to avoid being linked to the suicide fliers that demolished the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.

But a police Operations Branch Commander Dan Ronen told Army Radio Monday: "We thought that the large strategic attack which was carried out in Manhattan would influence to a degree the terror attacks here in Israel, but in the last several days were saw that this was not so."

"Following the terror attacks in New York and Washington, any terror scenario is realistic."

Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy said that one member of the police auxiliary Civil Guard would be assigned to each synagogue.

A police spokesman said "Certain synagogues will have an armed presence," some worshippers with gun licences would be allowed to bring their weapons to services.

According to Jewish ritual law, weapons cannot be carried on Jewish holy days unless there is a danger to human life.

Police said they would step up patrols around synagogues, especially those in Jerusalem, and that leave had been cancelled for hundreds of police officers.

In response to the terror attacks in the United States, a large number of Israeli citizens have either exchanged or received new gas masks. Some 5,000 gas masks were handed out at the country's 23 distribution stations yesterday as worried citizens made preparations for the worst. Around 3,500 gas masks are handed out on a normal day.

The Israel Defense Force spokesman said that the Home Front Command did not yet consider this "pressure," but rather an "upswing" in demand. The Home Front has decided not to open additional stations for the time being, despite the army's high alert and continued hints by the United States that Iraq could be a possible target of retaliatory action for last Tuesday's terror attacks.

Stations were supposed to remain closed this morning, but it was decided yesterday to open them up because of the increase in demand.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001


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