’Israeli’ Intelligence: Relations with PA Damaged, Any Quiet Will Be Short-term

Local Editor

The "Israeli" regime's intelligence branches alleged that there is a gradual decline in the intensity of the Palestinian operation wave in the besieged West Bank.

Some of the worrying trends noted at the beginning of the confrontation, such as spillover to 1948 Palestinians and escalation along the Gaza border, have meanwhile been halted.

Still, intelligence officials told the political leadership in recent days that even if relative quiet is achieved, it will be very hard to restore relations with the Palestinian Authority to where they were before the autumn outbreak.

The intelligence agencies agree that the internal situation in the Palestinian Authority - the weakening of President Mahmoud Abbas' status, the emerging battle for his succession, and the sense of the PA's diplomatic ineffectiveness - will not allow for the resumption of a long-term calm in the territories, even if the violence subsides for some time.

Security officials attribute the ebbing of operations in East al-Quds [Jerusalem], where there has been one stabbing in the past two-and-a-half weeks after a string of terror attacks, to a combination of the lowering of tensions in the al-Aqsa Mosque area, understandings with Jordan and the effect of harsh police measures in East al-Quds neighborhoods.

The locus of conflict has migrated since mid-October to al-Khalil [Hebron], where the majority of stabbing attacks has originated. "Israeli" officials are hopeful that the concentration of additional army troops in al-Khalil will gradually reduce the number of terror attacks in the area.

However, the intelligence services believe that even if the current round of violence subsides, it will return and escalate, probably within a matter of months. The level of frustration and anger among the Palestinian public, expressed in the desire to confront the "Israeli" apartheid regime, remains high.

The Palestinian public in the besieged West Bank is already preparing for the day after the end of the 80-year-old Abbas' rule. Accordingly, other senior PA officials are less prepared to maintain a high level of security coordination with the "Israeli" regime.

For now, despite the continued operations and number of fatalities [11 "Israeli" settlers and 69 Palestinians], the intelligence community eases its anxiety and refrains from describing these events as an intifada.

Source: Haaretz, Edited by website team