Jericho raid: Revenge attacks feared

Revenge attacks feared: Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert instructed officials to boost the deployment of security forces across the country for fear Palestinian terror groups may seek to carry out revenge attacks in the wake of Tuesday's Jericho raid.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Moshe Karadi instructed district police stations, Border Guard units and the traffic division to go on a level C alert starting Wednesday morning – one level below emergency.

Police and security forces will concentrate in places where crowds typically assemble, at recreational spots, clubs, synagogues and vacation spots.

Olmert spoke with Army Chief Dan Halutz and with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz Tuesday evening and thanked them for the successful operation, which resulted in the capture of Popular Front Secretary General Ahmad Saadat and other terrorists involved in the murder of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.

"The defense establishment brought honor to Israel and proved again we can count on it," Olmert told Mofaz.

Earlier, Mofaz was contacted by Zeevi's widow Yael and his son Palmah, who thanked him for the operation.

"We counted on you all along and it was clear to us the defense establishment and Israel would not let the murderers go," Yael Zeevi said. Mofaz in turn called Halutz and Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin to praise them for carrying out the mission successfully and without any casualties among troops.

'Operation sends clear message'

Responding to a question about the possibility of a terror wave to avenge the Jericho operation, IDF Central Command Head Yair Naveh said earlier: "We may experience a certain wave. I hope the fact we ended this incident with minimal casualties will end the wave."

Saadat (center, in grey jacket) leaves prison (Photo: AFP)

"We're talking about the detainment of murderers, as we do every night in Nablus, Hebron, and Ramallah," the IDF official added. "In this regard there's no difference."

Turning his attention to the conduct of troops, Naveh said: "We could have moved in troops very quickly and do it rapidly, but with quite a few casualties. I think we found the balance between risking our troops and applying pressure during the day."