That's right. If the unnamed security sources quoted by Channel One are …
…correct, this almost happened:
Seminary students planned revenge attack: TV
JERUSALEM (AP) _ Students from a Jewish religious school where a Palestinian militant killed eight last week planned a revenge attack against a senior Arab official affiliated with a Jerusalem mosque, Channel One TV reported Tuesday.
The attack has not been carried out but no arrests have been made, the TV said, quoting security sources.
The three students met at the seminary with two rabbis to discuss whether Jewish law would permit such an attack, the TV said. One of the rabbis gave his blessing for the attack, according to the report. An additional rabbi from a Tel Aviv suburb also gave his approval for the attack, the TV said.
``Torah law is that you should respond,'' the TV quoted one of the rabbi's as saying.
The plan was to harm a senior Arab official affiliated with a mosque at the disputed Jerusalem holy site known as the Temple Mount to Jews, Channel One said. To Muslims the hill is known as Haram a Sharif.
Police believe the Palestinian attacker, who was from east Jerusalem, chose the religious seminary since it is the flagship of the Israeli settlement movement. The gunman was killed in the shooting.
The mosque compound comprises the third holiest site to Muslims and is built on the buried ruins of ancient Jewish temples of which one outer wall remains, which is the holiest site to Jews.
Police would not comment on the report but said they have prepared for the possibility of such attacks in response to the shooting.
Any attack on a Muslim figure in Jerusalem would certainly inflame tensions in the disputed city that is the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Due to the sensitivities, Israeli police have in the past acted quickly to stop several attempts by Jewish extremists to attack the mosque compound.
The holy site is located in Jerusalem's walled Old City, in east Jerusalem. Israel captured the sector of the city in the 1967 Mideast war, and later annexed it. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to serve as the capital of a future state.
Here's Ynet's version of the story:
Channel 1: Rabbi endorses Jewish revenge attack
Several Jews reportedly granted rabbinical approval to avenge Jerusalem yeshiva attack
Ynet
Published: 03.11.08, 23:21 / Israel NewsJewish revenge in the works? A group of Jewish men have apparently been granted religious approval to carry out an act of retribution in retaliation for the attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem last week, Channel 1 reported Tuesday.
According to the report, several 25-35-year old men met with two prominent rabbinical figures – the first a rabbi at Mercaz Harav yeshiva and the second a rabbi known in far Right circles – two days after the attack, to discus possible retribution.
V for Volatile
After reaching the conclusion that the IDF is unlikely to retaliate for the attack, the rabbis apparently sanctioned an independent act of revenge, giving three of the men – all believed to be yeshiva graduates who served in the IDF and are licensed to carry arms – several books on the redemption of the Land of Israel.
Three of the men then met with a Bnei Brak rabbi, the head of a Sephardic yeshiva, and introduced him to the notion of retribution in the form of harming an Arab figure associated with Temple Mount.
The rabbi, said Channel 1, gave them his blessing.
However, the Mercaz Harav yeshiva vehemently denied reports that any student or rabbi associated with the seminary planned to carry out an attack on Arabs.
"This report is baseless, and as proof of that, no arrests have been made," the yeshiva said in its response.
Defense establishment monitors developments
Meanwhile, the defense establishment has been following similar reports suggesting the possibility of Jewish radicals carrying out an act of revengeA Security source told Ynet that there is great difficulty tracking Jewish elements looking to harm Arabs, citing the 2005 Eden Natan Zada case, in which an IDF deserter opened fire on a bus in the Arab town of Shfaram, killing four.
That was a lone, unforeseeable attack, said the source, and while the defense establishment is looking into several reports indicating some Jewish elements might seek revenge, no concrete leads are available.
Should am imminent threat be detected, concluded the source, the defense establishment will not hesitate to stop it.
Hanan Greenberg contributed to this report
World War 3, anyone?
I wonder if any of these students asked Rabbi Schachter for his opinion? Maybe they just relied on his YouTube video.