IDF commanders are bracing for yet a continued increase in acts of terrorism throughout Yehuda and Shomron following a continued increase in attacks during recent months. Military officials report 132 documented acts of terror in March 2009, up from 124 in February and 50 in January.

Following the Friday morning terrorist infiltration into Yishuv Bet Chaggai, and the recent fatal attack in the Gush Etzion community of Bat Ayin, there is an increasingly vocal call for installing security fences in the two communities mentioned, as well as other communities which are still without a security perimeter fence.

In the case of Bat Ayin, Bet Chaggai and many other ‘fenceless’ communities throughout Yehuda and Shomron, officials explain they are not seeking to compromise the security of residents but the decision not to install a fence is an ideological one, stating the fences should be placed around Arab villages to curtail the movement of terrorists, not around Jewish communities.

The official IDF response has rejected accusations that the increase is in any way connected to recent IDF relaxation of security restrictions on PA (Palestinian Authority) autonomous areas. Yishuv leaders insist the increase is a direct result of the soft-handed policies of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, calling on the senior minister to order the return of the roadblocks and inspection points recently removed from many areas throughout Yehuda and Shomron.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)