Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Terrorist murder of Israeli professor was botched assassinate attempt on Israeli Knesset member by Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah
Terrorist murder of Israeli professor was botched assassinate attempt on Israeli Knesset member by Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah
May 2, 2007
Fatah: Prof. Niv's Murder - Botched Assassination Attempt
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122244
15 Iyar 5767, 03 May 07 04:39
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) A terrorist group named the Buraq Army claims responsibility for a February attempt to assassinate an Israeli Knesset Member. The terrorists say they instead killed Prof. David Niv of Ramat Gan by mistake.
The terrorist group's announcement, received on Wednesday by Maan, the Palestinian Authority's news agency, reads, "The Al-Buraq army unit penetrated deep into the Israeli territories with the aim of undertaking a task of liquidating an Israeli Knesset Member after a month of planning and monitoring." The targeted Knesset Member was not named.
The Buraq terrorist are associated with Fatah, headed by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Prof. Niv, head of the chronic pain department at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, was found dead in his car on February 5 of this year near Ramat Gan. His car had crashed into a tree and then a traffic island, and he was found to have been shot several times.
The statement added that the incident took place at 1:00 AM when the Buraq assassination squad opened fire at the car, using a sound-muffled gun. It explained the 80-day delay in announcing its responsibility for the attack as "due to security reasons."
Israel Police announced, almost immediately upon finding the body, its estimation that the incident was a case of mistaken identity. No hint that it may have been a terrorist attack was given, however.
In response to an Arutz-7 query on the Buraq announcement, an Israel Police spokesman said a gag order had been placed at the time on the investigation into the murder. The case was discussed at a Knesset Interior Committee session a week after the murder. The session, which was called following four seemingly unconnected murders in the Tel Aviv area in a short span of time - including that of Prof. Niv - focused on how to reduce violent crime, witness protection, more police vehicles, and the like.
Two other fatal terrorist attacks have occurred this year. On Jan. 29, a suicide bomber blew himself up in an Eilat bakery, murdering three Jews - Emi Elmaliach, Michael Ben-Saadon, and Yisrael Semolia. On Feb. 25, Erez Levanon of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion was brutally stabbed to death not far from his home; two teenaged Arabs were caught and confessed.
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