Former Shabak officer Adi Karmi accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to fulfill its obligation to combat terrorism.
"The Palestinian Authority is not supplying the goods. As soon as we found out that there was a shortage of hands and a phenomenon of lack of governance, then the IDF and the Shabak launched a very focused operation. There is a lack of control from a security point of view, and of course we see it on the ground in all areas. Hamas is sitting on the fence, trying to recruit terrorist squads, pouring in money, encouraging attacks, activating incitement networks from all directions. We are seeing an increasing number of shooting attacks. Over 60 shooting attacks have been carried out since the beginning of the year. The Shabak has thwarted about 220 shooting attacks since the beginning of the year." , Carmi said in an interview with 103FM.
He said that the recent terrorist attacks tend to be carried out by 'lone wolves' more than being directly sent by terrorist organizations. "Although Hamas is trying to recruit operatives, and we see that there are phenomena of them attempting to establish terrorist infrastructures, these shooting squads are local, a local organization, young people who think they can become heroes."
"There is a phenomenon of incited young people here. The State of Israel prefers that the Palestinian Authority be stronger, carry out these arrests, prevent these young people from acquiring illegal weapons, and prevent these attacks, and this is not happening, so now, after all the warnings, we are seeing very intense activity by the army."
When asked if the situation will require an even larger-scale military operation or degenerate into a third Intifada, Karmi said: "This is precisely the kind of prediction that is very difficult to assess. The IDF is making every effort to prevent an outbreak and to prevent attacks. There are warnings, there are trends, there is a phenomenon of incitement, there are illegal weapons and that is why we see every night arrests, countermeasures, and Shabak investigations.