“Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.” (Psalm 5:11)
In response to the kidnapping of three Israeli teens who were hitchhiking while on their way home from school on June 12, Israeli firm NowForce has made its subscription-based SOS app a free emergency-alert portal for all Israelis.
The three kidnapped teens: Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16
On the night of the abduction, one of the kidnapped boys had made a phone call to the police call-center, managing to whisper “I have been kidnapped” before the call abruptly ended. The police considered the call a prank until one of the parents notified them that he had lost contact with his son. It took as much as eight hours for the Israel Defense Forces to receive the information.
“This app has been available for our subscription clients for several years,” said Julie Zuckerman, NowForce Vice President of Marketing. “In the wake of the grievous incident, in which three Israeli teens were kidnapped, we decided to release this to the general public for free as a way to boost the personal safety of Israelis all around the country.”
With the SOS app, a user starts the emergency process by pressing a large SOS button, which sends a distress signal to the NowForce reporting center who in turn notify relevant security officials and United Hatzalah emergency rescue workers. The app sends a map with navigation instructions to the location of the person in trouble and informs emergency contacts set up by him or her.
Arik Yekuel, the former head of technology for the Israel Police, said that although as much as 80% of calls to the emergency lines are fraudulent, NowForce will include technology to detect and prevent fraud. (Shalom Life)
An IDF soldier guides a drone during an exercise. These drones are providing Operation My Brother’s Keeper with crucial intelligence through thermal imagery with superior resolution and quality.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has launched Operation Brother’s Keeper to find the young Israeli civilians—Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16—who were kidnapped in the Gush Etzion region of Judea and Samaria (West Bank), directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Among the units participating in the operation to find the missing teens is Sky Rider, which uses drones in the search.
“We open up (operational) space for the fighters, scan routes and rooftops, and give the ground forces a level-forward picture, also during their exit from villages, as to ensure that no riots or burning of tires take place,” a senior official in the unit said. “The fighters work all night, sleep in the morning for several hours and wake up at noon to receive order for the next night.” (YNet)
The unit helped in the overnight arrest of 65 Palestinians, including 50 of the 1,027 prisoners who were released in the prisoner exchange deal to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Since Friday, at least 250 arrests have been made; of them, 180 Hamas are members.
Palestinians celebrate the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens with a “3” social media campaign.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke more than a year of silence when he called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to ask for help in locating the abducted teens.
He warned PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to take charge over the criminals originating under his authority.
“I expect you to help in returning the youths and capturing the kidnappers,” he told Abbas. “The Hamas kidnappers left territory under PA control and [after abducting their victims] returned to area under PA control.”
“The repercussions of the partnership with Hamas must be understood,” Netanyahu added. “It’s bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians, and bad for the region.”
Abbas finally made his first direct public comments yesterday to foreign ministers of Muslim states gathered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, saying, “The missing settlers in the West Bank are human beings like us, and we must look for them and return them to their families.”
“We are making an effort to locate the youths,” he said.
Nevertheless, today, Hamas and Fatah clashed over the conciliatory nature of Abbas’ speech, with Hamas accusing him of conforming to the “Israeli narrative” in condemning the kidnapping.
Meanwhile, Palestinian celebrations have included sweets and cakes passed out in PA streets in the wake of the kidnappings. As well, a flood of photos have been posted on the Internet featuring smiling children and adults holding up three fingers, accompanied by an Arabic message proclaiming joy at the capture of “Three Shalits.”
The Palestinian public continues to celebrate the kidnapping with a “3” social media campaign, in which even children are being photographed holding up three fingers.
Abbas inaccurately characterized the youth as settlers.
While GilAd Shaar is a resident of the Israeli settlement of Talmon, Eyal Yifrah is from the El’ad, a city in the Center District of Israel, and Israeli-American Naftali Frenkel is from Nof Ayalon, a communal settlement that is also in the Central District.
All three attend Mekor Chaim yeshiva at Kfar Etzion in Area C of Judea and Samaria, which is under full Israeli military administration.
In the video below, Eyal Yifrah sings only a week before he was kidnapped.
On Tuesday, the boys’ families gathered together for mutual support for the first time at the Frenkel home in Nof Ayalon, a city in central Israel near Modiin.
Mrs. Frenkel urged people to keep praying for the boys’ protection. (Times of Israel)
“We want … to strengthen security forces, who are working day and night, the decision-makers, and the prime minister, who is in contact with us,” she said, adding: “We feel deeply embraced by the entire Jewish nation, which accompanies us throughout the day, which gives us so much support.”
Israeli Prime Minister meets with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and ISA Director Yoram Cohen to formulate a response to the kidnapping.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached out to the families by telephone during Tuesday’s meeting.
“We are doing everything to find Eyal, Gilad and Naftali,” Netanyahu told them. “We are working in the field, putting in a massive operational and intelligence effort.
“In the name of Israel’s citizens, I would like to strengthen your spirits,” he said.
Netanyahu’s promise has encompassed at least ten raids into the disputed territories to find the young men.
“All we want is to hug our children,” Racheli Frankel told reporters after the emotional meeting. “Eyal, Gil-ad, Naftali, we love you, we miss you, be strong, be strong!”
In a conversation with Quartet Representative Tony Blair on Tuesday, Netanyahu noted that the “brutal abduction … shows the true face of Hamas. It’s not only committed to murdering Israelis, it’s committed to kidnapping children.”
“Anybody who supports peace must tell the Palestinian Authority that they cannot build a government that is backed by the kidnappers of children and the murderers of innocents,” Netanyahu told Blair, referring to the recent creation of the Fatah-Hamas unity government. “I think the international community has to condemn Hamas for its terrorist activities, and I think it has to support Israel’s right of self-defense, and I think it also must call on President Abbas to end his pact with Hamas.”
Israeli President Shimon Peres comforts the families of the kidnapped teens.
On Thursday, Israeli President Shimon Peres met with the families to assure them that Israel was doing everything to bring the boys home.
“I asked to meet you because this is a national event, the whole nation is united and standing by your side and praying with you for the safe return of your boys,” Peres said at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. “Security forces are working day and night in every street and alley of Hebron and leaving no stone unturned in the effort to find your boys.”
He also appealed to the international community to speak out and condemn terror.
“The leaders of the world must make their voices heard loud and clear; they must take a strong stance against terror,” he exhorted. “Terror is a global problem, not just an Israeli one—we must recruit the world.”
“Your invitation to us is another example of the genuine support we have felt over the past days from all directions, with no distinction between religion, politics or sector,” Ofir Shaar, the father of Gilad said. “Your words strengthen us as we stand strong and united in this difficult time that our families find themselves in. The people of Israel are with us. The Jews of the world are with us. We expect the whole world to act to free our boys.”
“We ask of you all to do more,” Shaar said. “To increase your prayers alongside the actions of the security services who are working night and day to bring back Naftali, Eyal and Gilad home safely as soon as possible.” (Times of Israel)
“Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.” (Exodus 21:16)
