As tensions rise in Judea and Samaria, i24NEWS spoke with security experts about the growing threat posed by armed Palestinian Authority forces, and the critical threat of their weapons being turned against Israel.
Lt. Col. (Res.) Maurice Hirsch, former Director of the Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria, told i24NEWS, "We see the Palestinian police participating and instigating terror. They are the terrorists."
"And here they are building a state, with an army, this Palestinian state, which is sending representatives to train in Qatar, to train in Pakistan, against whom they are fighting exactly?"
Ro'i Drucker, Judea and Samaria Coordinator for Regavim, explained, "Every road in Judea and Samaria is blocked, and we are just waiting for the day of command. The Palestinian Authority, for years, has been conducting a deep process of occupying the area, controlling all the residents and the main buildings in Judea and Samaria."
"They have been against us since the day they were arrested, since the day they received weapons. You can remember the demonstrations at the Western Wall, right? In 1996, just days after the signing of the Oslo Accords, [late Palestinian Authority leader Yasser] Arafat commands the officers in the Palestinian Authority to fight the Zionist enemy because they are operating in our sacred lands.
"And from then on, from the first day that the Palestinian Authority received weapons, it turned against us. The story does not end here, but when this event will be used against us."
Hirsch explained, "I was here in this division for five years, 1998-2003. The first two years, were peacekeeping, the Oslo Accords, the implementation of these things."
"What did the vision of peace bring us?" he asked. "Tens of thousands were killed, Israelis were murdered, thousands, and also on the Palestinian side, people were killed. So what, are we going to continue on the same path?"
Drucker added, "The Oslo Accords it was about 12,000 weapons that the Palestinian Authority could hold, for the use of force. Since the numbers grew, we know that today, the Palestinian Authority has about 65,000 beneficiaries."
"That is, even if not all of them are officers, you can say that at least 30,000-35,000 are trained soldiers. They have several places in Judea and Samaria, in the north, the main place is the General Artillery University in Jericho. It is a complete training base, like the IDF.
"They learn how to occupy positions and how to occupy settlements. They train in the north, in the open area. They train on artillery fire, they train on sniping, sniping, sniping, they train on forces that operate at night, with means of night vision, sniping civilians.
"I don't think that the police force needs all of this," he emphasized.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Eitan Dangot, former Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), told i24NEWS, "The military's readiness for a ceasefire is a capability that should be long-term. To deal with it, to differentiate and determine what goals are best."
"We also broke a few myths that have been around in recent years, that there are no words about the bombings that were done here to the little hearts of terrorists, especially in northern Samaria."
Last year, a full 150 Palestinian Authority police officers took their weapons and went to carry out terror attacks - a hint of what could happen in the event of a large-scale attack, with tens of thousands of hostile "police officers" operating.
"How can we, in this campaign, grow from 12,000 people to what is now estimated as 67,000 to 70,000 people?" Hirsch demanded.
Drucker noted, "The official leaders of the security systems dream of Israel from the river to the sea. They have every Friday that they bless Palestine. Every day is dedicated to another city in Palestine."
"There is no Ramallah and Jenin there. There is no Ofra and Beit El there. There is Haifa, Akko, Tiberias, Be'er Sheva. So apparently the State of Israel needs to start managing the event differently."
Asked if Israel has lost control of the arena, he said, "There is no control. Where is the control? When we talk about the fact that we need the Palestinian Authority for security coordination because they help us stop the extremists inside Judea and Samaria or they help us catch terrorists or free Israelis who accidentally entered their territory."
"The greatest triumph of the Palestinian Authority is that it has the security coordination. It is the only thing that keeps it going."
Dangot explained, "Security coordination with the citizen is the heart that allows the same stability in this disaster of Judea and Samaria. It is necessary and you see that both sides in terms of their interests maintain it. It brings the ability to talk to exchange messages and [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas understands this interest."
Arriving at Beit El, one of the oldest settlements in the area, Dangot said, "Behind me is the fence in front of Ramallah, in front of a settlement that is a symbol in my eyes, in terms of its population and demographic. So it is expected to be in the heart of the events and instructions that were given from here. One of the things that we insisted on them without any warning is the fact that Beit El, Ofra, and Ba'al Hatzor will be what is called a territorial continuum - that is necessary - and therefore this entire area that we are in is a space of great importance."
Asked if the security coordination is effective today, Dangot replied, "Very, in my opinion."
"During my time there were discussions about allowing the entry of explosives, parts of ammunition, up to this level. I am not naive enough to tell you that today the situation here has completely changed and there are other threats here, but on the other hand, you see that the IDF, as well as the General Security Service, are creating here a system of dynamics that should be zero mistakes."
"The IDF's achievement here in direct combat against terror, against the existing terror, brought it to a level that it was not in the past. And we know that today to enter fortresses is already a completely different thing. Our forces are sitting there.
"The IDF has changed and adapted, and its role is also to ensure that it will not happen."
Asked what Israel should be afraid of now, Dangot answered immediately: "That the Palestinian Authority makes the decision to break out through the barriers with dozens of armored vehicles that they have, not the white Toyotas of Hamas, with machine guns, with tens of thousands of terrorists that they go out, to Gedera and Hadera, to the coastal plains."
Concluding the interview, Drucker warned, "The State of Israel is today in a problematic situation - it's a ticking time bomb. And it's not a terrorist that maybe the Shin Bet will manage catch before the attack. This is an event that could bring the State of Israel to its knees."