[johnleeknoefler]

Soldier Who Killed Rabbi Mertzbach to be Questioned
by 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

[johnleeknoefler]

W. Bank: IDF kills Israeli who fails to stop vehicle
By YAAKOV KATZ
11/11/2011 09:21


Soldier opens fire on vehicle on Route 60 killing Rabbi Dan Mertzbach and wounding 2 others en route to Cave of the Patriarchs; IDF opens probe into what appears to be violation of military's open fire regulations.

An IDF soldier opened fire on a vehicle in the Hebron area of the West Bank on Friday, killing Rabbi Dan Mertzbach, 55, of the Otniel settlement and injuring two other women. The passengers were traveling to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron for morning prayers.

IDF sources said that an immediate investigation was launched to determine what caused the soldier to open fire in what appeared to be a violation of the military's open fire regulations.

The car was first spotted by the IDF near Beit Hagai at approximately 5 a.m. driving suspiciously, an IDF source said. Beit Hagai is one of the most threatened settlements in the southern West Bank. Four settlers were shot and killed in the area in August of last year, prompting the IDF to be on high alert ever since.

After spotting the vehicle, the IDF position passed its details to a command post, that then dispatched a nearby force to intercept the car.

The soldiers from the Lavi Battalion of the Kfir Brigade spotted the car on Route 60 between Beit Hagai and Kiryat Arba. They did not have time to deploy a checkpoint, instead attempting to use flashlights to flag down the vehicle.

The car failed to slow down, continuing to drive at what soldiers interpreted as fast speeds. One of the soldiers fired eight bullets, hitting the driver and both passengers. The car then swerved to the other side of the road and stopped.

Soldiers ran toward the car, and one of them was hit by a passing truck, suffering light injuries.

Mertzbach was critically injured and eventually pronounced dead on the scene. One of the car's passengers was shot in the shoulder and the second was shot in the thigh. The injured were evacuated to hospital.

"This is a grave incident, we are investigating to ensure that these kinds of things do not happen in the future," a senior IDF source said.

There was no indication from the preliminary investigation that the car was at all terrorist related, except for the fact that the driver was driving fast, on a dark road, very early in the morning.

Mertzbach, who served as a rabbi for several surrounding communities, was scheduled to be laid to rest later on Friday.

Emergency workers converge on Rabbi's car in early morning in attempt to save the wounded Rabbi and his family.

[johnleeknoefler]

Second Shooting Under Mordechai's Command

The death of Rabbi Dan Mertzbach due to IDF fire is the second accidental civilian death under Brig. Hagai Mordechai's command.

By A7 Staff
First Publish: 11/11/2011, 1:31 PM


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. (Witnesses report that this is patently false. The vehicle had all it's running lights plus headlights on and was traveling at a normal rate of speed. Moreover, other victims in the car report that there was no visible or audible warning before IDF opened fire and deliberately struck the Rabbi and fatally wounded him. And continued to fire even after the vehicle passed and there was no chance the car in any way posed a threat to the soldiers. Once perhaps is an accident but twice looks more like a plan, especially considering that the previous victim was a close relative.)

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.

Hagai Mordechai

[shoottokill]

another dead jew. some good shit huh?

[johnleeknoefler]

Originally Posted by shoottokill ↗

another dead jew. some good shit huh?

POS!

[shoottokill]

POS? did u mean:
A. Point of Sale
B. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
C. Piece Of Shit
D. Professional Operating System

I give kudos if u meant B. Why don't you sharpen your horns and ponder over it for a while.

[johnleeknoefler]

Originally Posted by shoottokill ↗

POS? did u mean:
A. Point of Sale
B. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
C. Piece Of Shit
D. Professional Operating System

I give kudos if u meant B. Why don't you sharpen your horns and ponder over it for a while.

Oh Sorry. None of the above actually. I meant Positively Outstanding Service!

[Mr.Goodbar]

TL:DR

IDF shoots a jew. Obviously an accident.

[raisin]

The only thing REALLY pissing me off about this is the fact that civilian and peaceful citizens from palestine wouldn't have even SCRATCHED this surface of trouble in Knesset...

It's tragic that Israel, with a defense force capable of overturning the Palestinians at EVERY roadblock feel so pressured by their own hunger for full control and their fear of losing it that they've started fueling it towards a totalitarian state, this IS how nazi-germany founded itself, more or less, build a hate, hunger for a restored glory, and most of all, a regained honor and freedom to play on the worldscene, it is a little bit scary.

[Sharon]

What logical reason do people in this part of the world have for despising Jews?