The Jerusalem Post
May. 26, 2002

Security guard foils car bombing at Tel Aviv disco

http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1021813240484

Security guard Eli Federman shot and killed a terrorist trying to attack Tel Aviv's Studio 49 night club with a car bomb early Friday morning.

"A big tragedy was averted here," said Tel Aviv police chief Cmdr. Yossi Sedbon. He said the terrorist's car, which exploded from Federman's gunfire, contained a series of bombs which were scattered on the road, only some of which exploded. The car was completely destroyed in the blast.

Federman, the brother of far right-wing activist and former spokesman of the outlawed Kach Party Noam Federman, was on guard outside the club at the corner of Kibbutz Galuyot and Abulafia streets, where about 200 people were partying.

He told reporters that shortly after 1:30 a.m., he saw the car turn sharply and race toward the club. Motioning to those around him to get down he opened fire, hitting the attacker, who started falling out of the car, setting off the blast. Three people were lightly wounded in the attack and received hospital treatment.

"I understood instinctively that something was happening," Federman said. "I pushed down the people standing outside and pulled out my gun and shot him. He got out of the car and fell down, and then there was an explosion. After the explosion I fired another two bullets at him from five meters away. Then I walked up to him and fired the rest of my bullets into his head. It was all a matter of instincts, I didn't have time to think at that moment."

Asked whether he had not been concerned that the motorist could have been an innocent person who had lost his way, Federman said: "Even if he were innocent, he still would have run down seven people."

Police Insp.-Gen. Shlomo Aharonishky praised Federman, telling him that Israel salutes him for his quick thinking in stopping the attack. "You managed to prevent a mass attack and saved many lives," Aharonishky told him.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer also telephoned Federman over the weekend and heaped praise on the man for his quick action.

"It is to the credit of people like you that the citizens of Israel can carry on with their routine lives and even go out and enjoy themselves," Ben-Eliezer told Federman. "And this is the best answer to terror."

The Aksa Martyrs Brigades released a statement Friday claiming responsibility for the night club attack. "The Aksa Martyrs Brigades has carried out the remarkable, heroic martyrdom operation in the heart of Tel Aviv this morning, in which a seeker of martyrdom blew up his pristine body, leading to casualties in the ranks of the enemy," the group said in a statement sent to Reuters.
"It is our sole weapon to end the occupation of Palestine, and we will not give up our strength and resistance until victory," the statement said.

David Baker, an official in the Prime Minister's Office, blamed the Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat. "The Palestinian Authority isn't lifting a finger to prevent these attacks," he said, referring to the second near-miss in the Tel Aviv area in less than 24 hours...

Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?