A wave of terrorism is hitting the Jewish towns of Judea and Samaria, while soldiers and funding for security decrease.
Among the incidents in the past two weeks:
* The running-over of two policemen at the Hizme checkpoint north of Jerusalem;
* the murder of a 13-year-old boy in Bat Ayin and the wounding of another by an axe-wielding terrorist who has not been caught;
* the attempt to throw a Molotov cocktail at Beit El (an incident that ended with the death of one terrorist and the escape of two others, including one who was wounded);
* a bomb placed outside Dolev;
* the arrest of an attempted infiltrator into Elon Moreh;
* the arrest of a terrorist who entered a Jewish home in Hevron
* the infiltration and subsequent shooting to death of a terrorist in Beit Haggai.
This has not prevented a steep cutback in security funding and resources to the towns, however. Shlomo Vaknin, head of security on behalf of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, spoke on Monday of recent decisions to reduce the number of soldiers, training exercises, and other security features.
“As of next month,” Vaknin told Arutz-7’s Hebrew newsmagazine, “there are to be 25% fewer soldiers available to protect the towns. There has also been a noticeable decline in training and exercises for the towns’ emergency response teams. This, despite the known fact that these teams have thwarted terrorist attacks, and that they provide the extra few minutes needed for the army to arrive on the scene.”
“In order to keep in top form, we need more training, and the situation at present is not good,” Vaknin warned.
Other problems he mentioned include not receiving permits to purchase defense equipment such as cameras, fencing, radar and fence lighting. These elements have proven their effectiveness in identifying and impeding would-be terrorist infiltrators.
“The Knesset Members representing Judea and Samaria must work with the government to find the necessary budgeting to strengthen our towns,” Vaknin urged, “especially in light of the terrorism wave that the defense establishment expects will either continue or get worse.”
On the other hand, Vaknin said that he understands that the local army commanders have agreed to return weapons to the residents. Special precautions will be taken to ensure that the guns are not left in places where they can be stolen, as has occurred in the past.
The Yesha Rabbis Council responded to the recent wave of terrorism in Yesha as follows: “The upsurge in attempts to kill Jews stems from the continued talk of delusional peace. It proves that there is no peace and that there will be no peace with a blood-thirsty enemy. The Jewish heroism of the Bat Ayin and Beit Haggai pioneers is Israel’s strength.”