'Passover Massacre' Bomber Nabbed

The man responsible for the bloodiest terrorist bombing of the Palestinian uprising that killed 30 Israelis enjoying a passover meal in a hotel in Netanya in 2002, was captured yesterday by Israeli soldiers:

Omar Jabar planned the attack and dispatched the suicide bomber to the hotel in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, the military said. He was arrested early Wednesday in the West Bank, the army said.

The attack spurred the military to launch a broad offensive in which Israel retook control of West Bank cities from the Palestinians.

The bombing came at a time of intense Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed, but was especially shocking because of the high death toll and because it targeted a religious celebration. Most of the victims were elderly.

Military officials said Jabar, who was high on Israel's most-wanted list, was found by chance. They said they had gone to the West Bank town of Qalqiliya to arrest another wanted man and Jabar happened to be there.

The attack occurred exactly 6 years ago tomorrow on March 27, 2002.

Referred to as "The Passover Massacre," the 2002 attack derailed any chance that the peace process would proceed. In the resulting military action, several plotters of the bombing were caught or killed including the supposed mastermind, Keis Adwan, who was cornered in a house and had the structure bulldozed over him when he refused to surrender.

Many of the victims were Holocaust survivors.