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Last update - 10:13 14/08/2009
Despite fears, no Israeli soldier has been kidnapped
By Amos Harel, Yuval Goren and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Israel news, abduction 

Acting on an uncorroborated report about a soldier's abduction near Lod, security forces mounted a sweeping roadblock effort in the greater
Tel Aviv region on Thursday, where car-by-car inspections resulted in massive traffic disruptions.

After initiating an urgent internal check, the Israel Defense Forces said all its troops were accounted for.
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A previously unknown Palestinian group calling itself the "Al-Quds Army" claimed that it had kidnapped an Israeli soldier Thursday, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported. However, the Israel Defense Forces said that other than the single report, it had no indication that any of its troops had been abducted.


The IDF Spokespersons' Unit issued a statement explaining that a female soldier had filed a report Thursday afternoon, saying that she had seen two civilians forcibly pushing a soldier into a vehicle.

In light of this testimony, police, the IDF and the Shin Bet security service put up roadblocks along all of Gush Dan to inspect every passing car. Two helicopters were scrambled as part of the clampdown.

A Palestinian security official said the Al-Quds Army, while fairly obscure, was believed to have links to the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.

"A group of our resistance fighters captured an Israeli soldier near Ben Gurion airport and withdrew along with the soldier peacefully - later we will give details about the captured soldier," Ma'an quoted a statement issued by the group.

A source in the defense establishment said that reports about suspected abductions, such as the one made by the female soldier on Thursday, are received and investigated every few weeks, and are usually dismissed.

"Soldiers and civilians usually misinterpret what they see and then report that they had seen an abduction," the source said.

Fej Shmuelevitch, an operator of a mobile phone application for information on traffic delays, told Haaretz that unusual congestion was recorded near Ben Gurion National Airport, on Route 4, and on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway as well as areas in Petah Tikva. Some passengers reported being stuck in traffic for four to five hours along the 60-kilometer road connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.

In an attempt to educate soldiers to the threat of abduction by Palestinian and other Arab militant groups, the Israel Defense Forces holds regular lectures for most combat and non-combat troops about how to react in case of an attempt.

The IDF has also imposed and is enforcing a ban of hitch-hiking for that reason. Soldiers are instructed to resist abduction "at all costs."

Abductions of soldiers are rare and each has proved traumatic. In June 2006, Hamas guerrillas from Gaza seized Gilad Shalit, a soldier on patrol near the border. His picture is plastered across the country, Israelis speak often of the urgency to bring him home, and the army has elevated his rank from corporal to sergeant. Negotiations for his release, involving the possible freeing of hundreds of Hamas prisoners in exchange, seem to be reaching a new intensity after several breakdowns.

It was shortly after Sgt. Shalit's capture that Hezbollah carried out a cross-border raid from Lebanon to kill and seize soldiers. Threats between the two groups have intensified recently.

In 1994, Sgt. Nachshon Wachsman was kidnapped by Hamas in central Israel. He was killed in a rescue operation.

In another attempt to prevent abductions, the IDF plans to begin teaching martial arts for self-defense to its non-combat soldiers - widely referred to as "jobniks."

The Combat Fitness Department decided to open the course after it identified a pattern of repeated gun snatching attacks in central Israel. One conclusion was that soldiers in non-combat units are especially vulnerable to the danger. The training will specialize in fending off threats that are more likely to face soldiers serving in rear units - including abductions.

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      1.   Better safe than sorry 01:03  |  Mike B 14/08/09
      2.   GREAT NEWS! 01:13  |  Ishai 14/08/09
      3.   hAARETZ YOU RETHINK OF THEIR BEHAVIOUR 02:28  |  dovale 14/08/09
      4.   The Al-Quds Army Lied--How Typical! 02:58  |  Jeff Northridge 14/08/09
      5.   But will the wingnuts take back their threats now? 04:12  |  BBSNews 14/08/09
      6.   #5 bbs news - what threats 06:21  |  Adrian de Klerk 14/08/09
      7.   Roll Call 06:44  |  Mark Lincoln 14/08/09
      8.   Abduction prevention 10:04  |  realist 14/08/09
      9.   BBSNews has something to say (wingnuts) no matter what.... 10:21  |  S 14/08/09
      10.   The Bombing of the King David Hotel is always germane 10:31  |  Natallie Durson 14/08/09
      11.   The Bombing of the King David Hotel 11:12  |  rich 14/08/09
      12.   rich, how many civilians were killed in the KDH bombing? 16:04  |  BBSNews 14/08/09
      13.   bbsnews.nut 19:10  |  Mike B 14/08/09
      14.   BBS I have finally figured out what your name means 20:15  |  Alan 14/08/09
      15.   #10 The Bing! Bang! Boom! of.....,, 15:38  |  The Teacher/Instruct 15/08/09
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