Rami Levy: Security Was Very High Before Terror Attack

YERUSHALAYIM
Hundreds attend the funeral of Tuvia Yanai Wisman, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, on February 18, 2016. Wisman, a 21-year-old soldier, husband and father, was killed yesterday in a stabbiong attack inside Rami Levy grocery store in Shaar Binyamin, West Bank.  Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** ôéâåò ã÷éøä ùòø áðéîéï øîé ìåé äø äøöì áéú ÷áøåú äìååéä ìååéä èåáéä éðàé åéñîï
Friends and family at the levayah of Tuvia Yanai Weissman, Hy”d, Friday. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Speaking publicly for the first time since the terror stabbing attack at his Sha’ar Binyamin supermarket Thursday, in which IDF soldier Tuvia Yanai Weissman, Hy”d, was killed and Avi Avital of Tel Zion was seriously wounded, Rami Levy said that security had been very high at the supermarket and at the shopping center. The terror attack, he said, and the way that the two Arab teens were able to get around security and carry out the actual attack, was thus very hard to understand.

Speaking on Army Radio Sunday, Levy said that “there are four security guards stationed at the store, and there are soldiers in the shopping center. There is also a police station right next to the center. The security images will show that these terrorists entered the store without any weapons.”

The IDF and security officials have been investigating on Friday how the two 14-year-old terrorists, Ayham Bassam Ibrahim Subih and Omar Salim Rimawi, were able to get past security to carry out the attack, Channel Ten reported. Officials said that the incident would require an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of the current security system, where demobilized IDF soldiers, as well as older security industry veterans, check bags and vehicles of individuals entering stores, cafés, government offices and shopping centers, asking them whether or not they are carrying weapons.

The two reportedly walked the aisles for 20 minutes, pointing out potential stabbing victims to each other before deciding on their targets. They then dispersed and went on a rampage, wildly stabbing at their intended victims. When shoppers saw the terrorists attacking, they began ramming them with shopping carts. The terrorists were killed when two armed shoppers drew their guns and fired. Both terrorists were hit and injured seriously, and later died of their wounds.

Speaking Sunday, Levy said that “we have been cooperating with police all along, and we do whatever they tell us in terms of security. We employ a security firm to provide protection, which deploys armed guards, exactly as the police specify.” The chain does not use soldiers, and specifically follows to the letter police instructions for security, neither adding nor diminishing, Levy said.

Levy expressed his condolences to Weissman’s family and other victims of terror. “Unfortunately, all Israelis are targets. These attacks have happened in the center of the country, Tel Aviv, Yerushalayim, and everywhere else in Israel. The terrorists’ aim is to interrupt our way of life. We cannot let them do so, we cannot surrender to terror,” he added.

Rami Levy operates supermarkets throughout the country, including in Yehudah and Shomron, in areas such as Beitar, Efrat, Sha’ar Binyamin, and outside Modi’in, and the chain employs many Palestinians.

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