The death of Rabbi Dan Mertzbach of Otniel due to IDF fire around 05:00 on Friday marks the second accidental death under the command of Brigadier General Hagai Mordechai.
Rabbi Mertzbach's vehicle was identified by an IDF situation room in Beit Hagai, which noted it was moving quickly towards an impromptu security check-point with only its emergency flashers on and no headlights.
IDF soldiers signaled the vehicle to stop, but were unheeded, leading one to fire eight rounds - killing Mertzbach and injuring two women in the car. According to reports the soldiers were in the middle of setting up the checkpoint, and there was no eye contact between Rabbi Mertzbach and the soldier who opened fire.
The soldier reportedly feared for his life as the vehicle raced toward him. Investigators are still investigating the incident, which occured in a place where soldiers have been injured and killed in the past. Their final evaluation of the incident is still pending.
Rabbi Mertzbach was a relative of Judah Ben-Joseph, who was also killed by the IDF fire in a similar incident in 2003. Ben Yosef and army officer Yoav Doron, were fired upon during an IDF ambush when they were mistaken for terrorists. That shooting occurred during Mordechai's tenure as brigade commander.
Today, Mordechai, the Brigadier General heading the Judea and Samaria Division, finds himself having to cope with a repeat of that tragedy on his watch. The previous shooting resulted in years of debriefing and civil suits for Mordechai and the IDF - and harmed relations with residents living in Mordechai's command zone.
After the 2003 incident, then IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon, decided to cancel the appointment of Mordechai as commander of the Paratrooper Brigade. Mordechai's advancement was arrested for a number of years, but he continued to serve as the Hevron brigade commander where IDF commanders praised him for "significant achievements" in the sector.
Mordechai has served as the commander of the paratrooper brigades, battalion and commando units, the elite Egoz reconnaissance unit, the Hevron brigade, and the Pillar of Fire Formation.
His appointment as the commander of the Judea and Samaria Division has raised concerns among residents who fear he may continue the policies of his controversial predecessor, Brigadier General Nitzan Alon, whose tenure was marked by policies described as both discriminatory and partisan by the public he served.
Brig. Gen. Mordechai's handling of the tragic death of Rabbi Mertzbach, however, will prove critical in establishing the tone of his command – and the trust of the residents of Judea and Samaria.
Rabbi Mertzbach is survived by five children and 10 grandchildren.
Oh, how easy: now blame it on the "hostilities": really, hostilities? BY WHOM , I ask you? WHOSE HOSTILITIES are we talking about here? This time too you want to stick the assassination on somebody else??
Review this post as an important reference, in case you don't understand what I am talking about:
http://israeltruthtimes.blogspot.com/2011/04/pointing-finger-at-amalek-within-israel.html
And this one too as an addendum:
http://israeltruthtimes.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-is-my-response-to-anonymous.html
Rabbi Mertzbach to be Recognized as Hostilities Victim
Cheshvan 14, 5772, 11/11/11 07:49
The Defense Ministry said, Friday, that it would recognize Rabbi Dan Mertzbach of Otniel as a victim of hostilities.
Rabbi Mertzbach was killed and two others in his car were wounded when an Israeli soldier fired into their vehicle after they failed to respond to signals to stop at an impromptu roadblock near the Ari/Kvasim Junction of Highway 60. The roadblock was set up in response to reports of a suspicious vehicle in the area, and the army says the soldier fired out of fear for his life.
Otniel Resident Dead in Shooting Incident on Highway 60
60-year-old Rabbi Dan Mertzbach killed after IDF troops accidentally fire shots at an Israeli vehicle.
Gavriel Queenann & Elad Benari Rabbi Dan Mertzbach, 55-year-old rabbi of the community of Otniel, was killed around 05:00 on Friday morning in a shooting incident in which IDF troops accidentally fired shots at an Israeli vehicle.
An army situation room in Beit Chagai identified a vehicle moving slowly with only its emergency flashers on and informed the unit near the Ari/Kvasim Junction. A short time later the victims' vehicle approached quickly and without lights on.
The soldiers signalled the vehicle to stop and fired eight shots when it didn't. The vehicle travelled about 400 meters before it stopped.
According to reports the soldiers were still in the process of setting up the check point and there was no eye contact between Rabbi Mertzbach and the soldier who open fired.
Two women in the car were wounded, one moderately and one lightly. They were taken to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. One of the women lost her husband in a terrorist attack on the same road about 10 years ago.
A soldier involved in the incident was lightly injured when hit by a passing Arab truck. He was taken to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva.
Interviewed by Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service, Otniel spokesman Yehuda Glick said Rabbi Mertzbach was a man of G-d 24 hours a day, noting that he served as the rabbi of a number of communities in the area. Glick called the rabbi the soul of the community, adding that Rabbi Mertzbach planned Otniel's synagogue, built its beit midrash (study hall) and brought in many rabbis to teach there.
He said many people in the community were crying for a father who took many of them under his wing. He is survived by a wife, five children, and 10 grandchildren.
Notice that his killers were promptly released, of course.
For a motive to the killings: it's simple: THE TEMPLE MOUNT and ERETZ YISRAEL.The powers that be in Israel, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, Dorit Beinisch, and co, supervised by their bosses in Rome, will have none of it.
7 comments:
S. said:
Outright murder on orders.
Moshe wrote:
no question about it... yet another targeted murder of yesha residents and rabbis by shimon peres and ehud barak... follow this rabbi's career story... find out what he was recently doing and saying or writing...
Refresher:
http://israeltruthtimes.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-is-my-response-to-anonymous.html
Targeted murder without even a shadow of a doubt. Is there a list of all the rabbis who've been assassinated by the *powers that be*? BTW - no mention of the killing already in the press. As if it never happened. Hashem yikom damo.
C. said:
You made it clear but it is too horrific to deal with.
S. added:
About he latest murder of a Jewish Rav by the unJews.
According with standing field operating orders, the soldiers open fire in extreme need and only under superior orders against the wheels of a vehicle which disobeys stop order.
They only return fire directly against occupants if fired upon by said occupants.
I suspect that the "road block" or in fact AMBUSH did not even show an Israeli ID sign such as a flag or Hebrew, light reflecting signs.
I doubt that illumination was in place either.
Further. No name or point of origin has been reported for the murderer.
I doubt very much that the murderer was hit by another vehicle and was taken to hospital.
There are no records available of an hospital receiving a soldier victim in a hit and run.
Was the Rav Z'L, hit from the front, side or back?
As far as I can deduce, this was another murder of a prominent Jew by we all know who.
Update on the shooting:
The whole thing is more than fishy. If it smells like murder, looks like murder, behaves like murder, it must be.... murder.
"Cheshvan 16, 5772, 13/11/11 04:36
Soldier Who Killed Rabbi Mertzbach to be Questioned
Military Advocate General orders military police to conduct an investigation into the death of Rabbi Dan Mertzbach.
Elad Benari
The military police will question the IDF soldier who fired on Friday at the vehicle driven by Rabbi Dan Mertzbach from Otniel, killing him and wounding two other passengers.
The questioning will take place after the Military Advocate General ordered an investigation into the matter on Saturday.
As well, an officer from outside the military police will review the investigation that has been conducted into the incident.
An initial investigation conducted by the Central Command has found that at about 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning, the guard of the community of Beit Haggai noticed a suspicious vehicle traveling in the area. According to one report, the guard asked the driver for identification but the driver did not notice him and continued driving.
The guard then contacted IDF headquarters and local soldiers put up a makeshift roadblock. Shortly after 5:00 a.m. they saw a Peugeot car headed toward the roadblock.
The soldiers claim that they called the vehicle to stop, but the passengers in the vehicle said they hadn’t heard any such call. One of the soldiers, who felt that he was in mortal danger, fired eight shots at the car.
The investigation also found that the soldier who fired the shots was hit seconds later by a passing truck driven by a Palestinian Authority Arab. According to the investigation, Rabbi Mertzbach had been driving with his lights on, despite reports in the media which claimed the opposite.
On Friday, the daughter of one of the female passengers who were wounded told Channel 10 News that her mother had said that the soldiers had fired directly at the vehicle without warning.
“The soldiers fired into the air without warning, but when they saw that he didn’t stop, they fired at his head and neck instead of shooting at the wheels,” the daughter said. “He was killed on the spot. Although they saw that they hit him, they continued to shoot and hit the car from behind.”
Rabbi Mertzbach, 55, was laid to rest on the Mount of Olives on Friday afternoon. He is survived by a wife, five children and 10 grandchildren. A professional architect, he served as a rabbi for Tene Omarim, Shima and Eshkolot.
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