According to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, a Gaza type withdrawal by Israel from areas of Yehuda and Shomron is likely to lead to a total collapse of the PA (Palestinian Authority) administration and lead to the rise of Hamas, as is the case in Gaza today.

While US Secretary of State John Kerry seeks to persuade Israel into accepting the US model for security, a withdrawal from the Jordan Valley, Walla News quotes senior security officials warning such a move would result in a sharp increase in terror against Israel. Kerry feels the early detection systems and drone aircraft can replace the IDF presence in Gaza but the security experts in Israel do not concur with the American assessment.

The Walla report states that Ya’alon and senior IDF officers are in agreement, that Israel mustn’t agree to give up its right for the IDF to operate in Yehuda and Shomron. Doing so would lead to an increase in terror attacks. “We will not turn over security for our citizens to any foreign entity” Ya’alon is quoted saying in closed senior forums, as the senior minister reject’s Kerry’s model for an agreement between Israel and the PA. The experts are confident that an Israeli withdrawal from Yehuda and Shomron to permit the establishment of the State of Palestine will lead to the collapse PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ (Abu Mazen) Fatah government in Ramallah, which will be replaced by Hamas, using Gaza as the example.

Walla added “the senior sources” explain that due to the very fact the IDF can operate unhampered in areas of Yehuda and Shomron, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and other fundamentalist terror organizations remain under control in those areas. “American drones are incapable of arresting terrorists in Jenin or uncovering a bomb factory” they add.

A senior security source is quoted adding “If you turn over security to the PA (Palestinian Authority) then rockets will be launched from Shechem into Kfar Sava and Ben-Gurion International Airport. In the meantime, the IDF and ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) are doing the difficult job which the PA is not capable of doing.”

The report continues that just last month there were two terrorist incidents involving PA security forces. In one case, a PA policeman fired at paratroopers operating in the Kalkilye area. The terrorist/policeman was shot dead. In another case, an officer in the PA security network, a resident of Yericho, sent the terrorist who placed the bomb on the bus in Bat Yam.

In that case, the vigilance of a passenger and quick actions of the driver prevented many deaths.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)