PA worker in Beitar Illit (illustrative)
PA worker in Beitar Illit (illustrative)Flash 90

Residents of the city of Beitar Illit, twenty minutes south of Jerusalem, got a scare Tuesday morning when they were warned that terrorists may be on the loose in the city. Arab men with covered faces had been seen entering the area.

Military forces spread through the city and began patrolling streets with weapons out of their hosters.

The high alert ended only in the afternoon when it was discovered that the two suspicious Arab figures seen sneaking in had entered the city in order to work illegally for a local Jewish man.

Unemployment is high in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, and in addition to the tens of thousands of PA Arabs employed legally by Israelis, many more offer their services illegally to Israelis.

The incident occurred just one day after a terrorist successfully infiltrated Israel from Gaza and entered a home in the southern Jewish agricultural village of Sde Avraham, intent on murdering its residents. The terrorist was met by the mother of the house, who managed to beat him back and call for help, leading to his death in a stand-off with IDF troops.