Group Planned 3-Pronged Attack on Jerusalem Targets, Court Told

Three Palestinian militants planned to attack Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s residence, shoot down a helicopter on its way to the Israeli parliament and trigger powerful remote-controlled bombs along Jerusalem roadways during rush hour, a court here was told Sunday.

The details of the alleged plots, unveiled as the men were indicted in Jerusalem District Court on terror charges, pointed to what could prove to be a new level of audacity, sophistication and inventiveness on the part of their group, Islamic Jihad, authorities said.

Islamic Jihad has carried out dozens of deadly attacks against Israelis during more than 26 months of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most of those attacks have been suicide bombings and shootings whose tactics and planning were markedly similar. Some landmark Israeli markets and particular bus routes have been the targets of repeated attacks.

The alleged plots by the three men, however, appeared to show a greater ambition to carry off a “mega-attack” that would either cause a very large number of casualties or strike at an institution of great symbolic importance to Israelis, analysts said.

The men were arrested two weeks ago, but details about their case were not disclosed until their court appearance Sunday.

Officials said the three men -- Hader abu Hamed, Omar Attrash and Ziad Attrash -- possessed a quantity of explosives and mortar shells.

Prosecutors told the court that the three had been observing the flight path of helicopters landing at Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, and had found a house in the tranquil, affluent Jerusalem neighborhood of Rehavia from which they believed a copter could be shot down.

Authorities said the cell also had made a careful study of Jerusalem traffic patterns, noting that construction projects were causing heavy congestion that left many cars packed closely on roadways approaching Jerusalem from the north.

The three intended to detonate plastic explosives during morning rush hour that would be timed to trap as many commuters as possible in a conflagration, prosecutors and court documents said.

For a possible strike against Sharon’s official residence -- also in Rehavia -- the men had been watching the comings and goings of the prime minister’s security detail, the court was told. They had picked a dumpster near the residence as a potential place to plant explosives timed to go off as the guards drove past, prosecutors said.

Palestinian militants have staged nearly 90 suicide bombings since the outbreak of the current intifada in September 2000. Israel says hundreds of others have been foiled. Authorities also cope with dozens of “red-hot” alerts -- intelligence warnings on imminent attacks.

On Sunday, a not atypical day, police and troops arrested two Islamic Jihad activists at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Officials described the men as a would-be suicide bomber and his handler, who had hoped to carry out an attack in the city center as the workweek was getting underway.

In a separate court case, judges handed down long sentences to four convicted masterminds of eight major bombings that killed more than 35 people.

Several of the attacks were particularly traumatic for Israelis. They included a bomb planted in a crowded cafeteria at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, which had been one of the few public places where Arabs and Jews mingled freely, and a suicide blast at a trendy Jerusalem cafe called Moment, only a stone’s throw from Sharon’s residence. The cafe has since reopened, with a small shrine to the victims at its entrance.

The shortest sentence handed down to any of the four was 60 years; the others received multiple life terms. The Palestinian men said they were carrying out a Koranic call to jihad; the judges wrote that the attackers deserved to “rot in jail until the end of their days.”

Meanwhile Sunday, Israel’s Cabinet reiterated the government’s pledge to prevent Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from traveling to Bethlehem for this year’s Christmas observances. Arafat for months has been confined to his battered headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 12 miles away. The Palestinian Authority president was prevented from traveling to Bethlehem last Christmas.

Arafat, a Muslim, once presided over the holiday observances with gusto. After Palestinians won administrative control of Bethlehem in 1995, a moderately successful drive was launched to attract tourists and pilgrims to the city for the holidays.

This year’s Christmas celebrations are expected to be muted and to draw only small crowds. Israel says its troops will maintain a tight grip on the city but will allow in worshipers and pilgrims. Soldiers moved into the city three weeks ago after a suicide bomber from the Bethlehem area staged an attack in Jerusalem.