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The site of a suicide bomb attack in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya this Monday Dec. 5, 2005. (AP)
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| By Associated Press December 7, 2005 |
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Four police officers, gun drawn, ran after a tall, blond man hurrying toward the crowded entrance of a shopping mall, his hand inside a bag.
After he blew himself up and killed five Israelis on Monday, the police themselves faced tough questions: Did they foul up by not firing, or did they do the right thing by not shooting in a crowded area or risk mistaking an innocent man for a suicide bomber?
Israeli media questioned the conduct of the security forces, with the banner headline Tuesday of the mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot daily blaring in outsize letters, "OUR FAILURE."
After more than 100 suicide bombings over the past five years, Israel has honed methods for recognizing and preventing such attacks. The public is savvy about how to spot suspicious objects, including looking for people who, like Monday's bomber, look nervous or carry bags to conceal explosives.
Israel also is a world leader in securing malls, requiring motorists to open their trunks when entering parking garages, and installing walk-through metal detectors and guards with metal-detecting wands at the entrances.
Despite such expertise, security ultimately depends on human decision-making - raising the risk of getting things wrong.
"In any life-threatening situation, police officers are allowed to open fire, obviously taking into account the surrounding situation, whether there are civilians around, " police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, adding that there are no "shoot-to-kill" orders.
The problem is how to define "life-threatening." In the complicated circumstances that developed within seconds on Tuesday, police knew there was a good possibility that 23-year-old Lotfi Abu Saada was carrying a bomb. The young man was spotted walking quickly with his hand inside a bag.
Policewoman Shoshana Attia even shouted, "Terrorist, terrorist, take his hand out of the bag," as she ran toward him, prompting bystanders to scatter.
Attia told Israeli media there were too many people near the entrance to the Sharon Mall in the coastal city of Netanya to open fire. "If I had a chance, I would have shot him," the pregnant policewoman told Israeli TV on Monday from a hospital where she was treated for minor wounds.
Deputy district commander Aharon Franco denied that officers acted wrongly.
"You have to understand we're talking about a walking bomb, and that the terrorist was the one in control," Franco told Army Radio. "The policewoman (Attia) took all the risk upon herself and ran toward him to try to isolate him, and perhaps prevent him from activating the bomb. ... Any gunfire could have hurt the civilians, too, and the guard."
Despite the multitude of terror attacks in Israel, police are always dogged by the fear of shooting an innocent person, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said.
In July, British undercover officers fatally shot a Brazilian electrician in the head aboard a subway train, suspecting he was a suicide attacker. The shooting occurred a day after four failed attempts to bomb London's transport system, and two weeks after bombers killed 52 bus and subway passengers.
Israeli security forces have also mistakenly identified people as militants, with deadly results. Several years ago, an Israeli soldier shot and wounded a deaf Israeli bus passenger he suspected was a Palestinian suicide bomber.
Police are conducting an investigation into the officers' conduct Monday. "From what we can tell now ... the police, in my opinion, did they best they could, and prevented an even larger-scale attack by preventing the terrorist from entering the mall, and isolating him from the crowd as much as possible," Franco said.
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