Really Smooth Move

As nearly as I can figure, the various Palestinian factions have hit upon the one sure-fire operational plan that will virtually eliminate any sympathy they may have had in the world. They have decided on a kidnapping campaign and are grabbing students and old men in addition to the soldier.

A source claiming to be from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group, announced Wednesday afternoon that the group is holding a 60-year-old man from Rishon Lezion.

Police have confirmed that a 62-year-old man from Rishon LeZion has been missing for two days.

In a tragic representation of various sectors of the Israeli public, terrorists apparently now hold three Israelis: a senior citizen civilian resident of pre-1967 Israel, an IDF soldier and a resident of the Shomron.

Hours earlier, another kidnapping scare took place. Police scrambled to locate a girl in the Migdal HaEmek region who called her mother from her cellular phone saying she may have accidentally gotten into a vehicle she realized too late was driven by PA Arabs. The phone suddenly went dead.

Less than an hour later, after checkpoints had been set up in the region and police put on high alert, the alert was cancelled when the girl walked in the front door of her home – with a dead cellular phone battery and apologies to her family.

This is a sure loser for the Palestinians.