"How do we overcome this dilemma?" This was the question posed today to Maj.-Gen. (res.) Oren Shachor, who served as head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria and was a senior member of the Israeli negotiating team with the PA under the Rabin and Peres governments. The question was based on the statement of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon yesterday that the lifting of the curfew on Jenin helped the Karkur bus terrorists arrive at their destination and explode their carbomb this past Monday. "We can't keep hundreds of thousands of people under curfew for months at a time, yet when we ease the restrictions, we get terrorism. What to do?" asked Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane.
"This has long been our problem," Shachor sighed. "On the one hand, you want to enable the Palestinian population to live, eat, and move around, while on the other hand we have to watch over our citizens' lives. When we take off the curfew, they take advantage of it. As government coordinator [in the territories], I had difficulty recommending removing the curfew, because I knew that it would open holes [in our security]. I think the Palestinians should take very much to heart what Yaalon said; it was basically a strong warning. They better realize that even though we are a humane nation and we care about the Palestinians, our overriding concern is to save our citizens' lives. It will definitely now be much harder to open the curfews."
Shachor said that what has to be done now is for "the army to increase its presence in Yesha... To withdraw from Hevron does not appear to be very relevant or practical at present. We must remain in the centers of power in the different cities, from Hevron to Jenin. We have to increase our military activity in other areas as well, including in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad strongholds in Gaza..." Shachor also reiterated his position that Arafat should be expelled, without concern for how he will behave or be receive abroad. "His place is not here," Gen. Shachor said.
Other protests over the IDF's scheduled withdrawal from most of Hevron continue to be sounded, as well. The Victims of Arab Terror organization released a statement today calling the idea of leaving the security of Hevron's Jews in the hands of Arafat's army "unconscionable and unthinkable."
"This has long been our problem," Shachor sighed. "On the one hand, you want to enable the Palestinian population to live, eat, and move around, while on the other hand we have to watch over our citizens' lives. When we take off the curfew, they take advantage of it. As government coordinator [in the territories], I had difficulty recommending removing the curfew, because I knew that it would open holes [in our security]. I think the Palestinians should take very much to heart what Yaalon said; it was basically a strong warning. They better realize that even though we are a humane nation and we care about the Palestinians, our overriding concern is to save our citizens' lives. It will definitely now be much harder to open the curfews."
Shachor said that what has to be done now is for "the army to increase its presence in Yesha... To withdraw from Hevron does not appear to be very relevant or practical at present. We must remain in the centers of power in the different cities, from Hevron to Jenin. We have to increase our military activity in other areas as well, including in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad strongholds in Gaza..." Shachor also reiterated his position that Arafat should be expelled, without concern for how he will behave or be receive abroad. "His place is not here," Gen. Shachor said.
Other protests over the IDF's scheduled withdrawal from most of Hevron continue to be sounded, as well. The Victims of Arab Terror organization released a statement today calling the idea of leaving the security of Hevron's Jews in the hands of Arafat's army "unconscionable and unthinkable."