Israeli rescued from Jericho abduction says she was threatened with gun, assaulted

Reports say woman told police she was lured to West Bank by man she met online, who she thought was Jewish; woman was extracted by PA forces, returned to Israel

An Israeli woman who reported being kidnapped in the West Bank city of Jericho last week told investigators that she had been threatened at gunpoint and assaulted by several Palestinian men after being lured to the city by a man she had corresponded with online.

The woman, who managed to briefly get away from her apparent captors, was later extracted by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces and returned to Israel, after she made an emergency call to Israeli authorities and alerted them of her abduction. According to Channel 12, IDF and police tracked her phone’s location and informed PA forces of her precise position, where she was then found.

“When I arrived at the location I was sent to, several people jumped on me and one of them threatened me with a gun,” she told investigators, according to Sunday reports in Hebrew media.

She told police that she had come to the location to meet a man she had only spoken with online, despite initial reports stating that the two were work acquaintances: “At first I didn’t want to, but in the end I agreed and he sent me a location to meet him.”

She also told investigators that she thought the man was Jewish, and only later realized he was Palestinian.

Channel 12 noted that the woman is a new immigrant to Israel and does not speak fluent Hebrew, and that police believe the language barrier was a contributing factor in the unusual incident.

“After they attacked me, I managed to escape to another room and call my friend and the police,” she said, according to the reports. She also said that additional Palestinians then arrived at the scene, until she was ultimately extracted by PA police forces.

“The civilian was rescued, without any casualties in the incident,” the army said on Friday.

Police are describing the incident as very serious, and said that it is being investigated as a criminal case at this stage.

By Israeli law, Israelis are barred from entering West Bank areas controlled by the PA, including Jericho.

Emmanuel Fabian contributed to this report.