New details are emerging about what happened around the chilling phone call from one of the kidnapped people to the police hotline.
The investigators who obtained the recording discovered that the conversation, which lasted two minutes, was interspersed with loud background noises, including a radio and conversations between the kidnappers in Arabic, while one of the boys whispered, "They kidnapped me.".
Over the past 24 hours, investigators have managed to extract details from the recordings that could advance the investigation.
The question that has been preoccupying Israeli citizens since the kidnapping of the three boys became known is: Why was nothing done from the time of the kidnapping, 10:25 PM, until 3:15 AM on Friday night, and precious hours were wasted? What caused the security forces to begin operating at precisely this hour?
Inexperienced young people
The drama began at 10:25 p.m. One of the boys, apparently Gil-Ad Shaer, managed to call the police hotline 100 from inside the car and whispered the words: "They kidnapped me, they kidnapped me.".
Then the phone fell from his hands and noises were heard in the background.
The dispatcher who received the call drew the attention of senior officials to it, but they did not take it seriously, except for an attempt - according to a police publication - to call back the number from which the call was made.
When no answer was received (it is clear that if the kidnapped person called and the call was disconnected, he would not be able to receive or answer calls) they decided to ignore it, and the call was classified as "harassing.".
Calls classified as 'harassment' account for about 45 percent of all calls to the police hotline 100. In total, 10 million calls are received by police stations each year.
Until about eight years ago, 100 police stations across the country operated hotlines, but the system did not prove itself, and the police decided to reorganize and establish a hotline in each police district that would operate 24 hours a day.
The solution required a large manpower, and the hotlines were often staffed by police officers on compulsory police service [as part of compulsory military service] - young men, aged 18-21, with no police experience.
Police officers interviewed by the media speak of a Sisyphean work that is not suitable for young and inexperienced police officers. According to them, the way young people report to their shift leaders is also lacking in professionalism, even if they act in good faith.
A former call center operator who was interviewed for the Galei Tzahal afternoon program joined in and said today: "These are people you can't even approach with complaints. Young people, who haven't even started life yet, and now this guy has to deal with a phone call that could have ended this incident in half an hour...
"These guys are employed at the 100 hotline without sufficient training. I don't come to them with complaints, they don't have the skills. They are given basic police training, administrative. They can't handle situation analysis.".
Contacting the emergency center
As the hours pass, Ofir and Bat Galim Sha'ar's hearts fill with worry. Son Gil Ad has not yet returned home.
At 3:10 AM, the Yesha Council's emergency and security hotline – 1208 – receives a phone call from Ofir. He reports that his son has not yet returned from the yeshiva in Kfar Etzion.
The dispatchers who took the call, Hodya Elmo and Moshki Devnik, told Channel 10 that they understood from the father that the son was a responsible person, and that his friends knew that he had left the yeshiva.
The two dispatchers immediately understand the magnitude of the incident and begin to act - which caused the dramatic change in the case.
They are updating all possible sources: police, regional divisions, Efrat call center, Kiryat Arba call center. They say that initially the report was received as a 'regular event,' but later it became a 'market.'.
""There was some kind of broken phone, and slowly they started to realize that it was something unusual," says Devnik.
The head of the council's security department, Benjamin Avigdor Schatz, said that at 3:18 AM they notified the Shai District Police that there was a missing person, and this requires extensive attention from security officials.
Malicious trolls
What is the Yesha Council hotline number 1208?
This center essentially functions as the local 100 center, automatically connecting the caller to the security center in the nearest town, and providing a full response to inquiries 24/7.
But we would be sinning against the truth if we were content to define it as just a 100 hotline. Hotline 1208 provides a broader response than 911 hotlines abroad.
In addition, the hotline, apparently in contrast to the conduct of the Israel Police, takes every request they receive seriously, and even directly updates all relevant parties, including the Israel Police, the IDF, and other relevant emergency bodies.
In a special conversation with Haredim10, the hotline managers say: "The 1208 hotline also suffers from false calls and malicious trolling. However, first of all, they check and verify the concern that this is a real case, and only after all the necessary steps have been taken accordingly to rule out a real incident, can they treat it, out of doubt, as a trolling attempt.".
The regional and local hotlines, such as the Binyamin Hotline, the Shomron Hotline, and more, were established about two decades ago, in light of the reality of the intifada and terrorism, which forced and mandated the establishment of these hotlines. However, about 3 years ago, in accordance with the instructions of the IDF Central Command to establish a central hotline through which referrals would be routed, Hotline 1208 was established.
It is important to note that, as stated, the hotline works in cooperation with all security and emergency agencies in Israel, but it is apparently the way in which inquiries are addressed and handled that makes the difference.
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