Kidnapped boys' families hear recording of sons' emergency call
'We've been kidnapped,' one of the abducted teens said in disputed call to police minutes after kidnapping; police and army exchange blame for dismissing call, missing precious hours after kidnapping.
Representatives of the police and security establishment arrived at the homes of the Yifach, Shaer and Frenkel families on Wednesday and allowed them to hear the call one of the kidnapped boys placed to the police minutes after the kidnapping.
The phone call has been at the center of a heated dispute in recent days. After the boys went missing it was discovered that the police received an emergency call hours before the IDF was informed. According to the police, they thought the call was a prank.
Throughout Wednesday police and the security officials traded blame for what many are already describing as a serious error on the part of the police.
A military source who heard the emergency call placed, said "you can clearly hear the boy saying – 'I've been kidnapped'". The source further said that "anyone who claims otherwise (about the tape) – is misleading the public and protecting the police."
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Interior Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said he understood the criticism at the police, but noted that "I heard the tape and I tell you it is very difficult to understand."
According to the police, the families listened to the recording attentively and the situation was very emotional for them. Nonetheless, the police decided to go forward with the meeting amid the growing level of criticism and slew of rumors surrounding the call's content.
Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino has ordered the formation of a special investigation committee to examine the police's initial response to the kidnapping. "I am more than aware of the public's criticism, and understand it," the commissioner said.
The police have also attempted to deflect criticism, saying the Shin Bet was responsible for dealing and preventing kidnappings in the West Bank.
No joke
According to the information known, the police's 100 (Israel's 911) call center received the call at 10:25 pm on Thursday evening, but police failed to report the call to the IDF and Shin Bet until roughly 3 am, when the father of one of the teens arrived at the station to report his son missing.
According to a report in Israeli media, a female soldier serving in the police who received the call brought it to the attention of higher-ranked officers to listen, who then decided that it was a prank.
A senior army official noted that the IDF "knew about the abduction of the three teens in the early hours of Friday morning. As soon as we receive such information, we take it seriously and act quickly to rule out the possibility the teens' disappearance was unrelated to security considerations."
Omri Efraim, Yoav Zitun and Elior Levy contributed to this report
