The IDF has prepared a list of goodwill gestures that it can potentially offer
the Palestinian Authority following its planned declaration of statehood at the
United Nations later this week, aimed at decreasing the chance for an outbreak
of violence,
The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The list includes a
reduction in IDF operations inside Palestinian cities and towns in territory
defined as Area A, which is under full Palestinian control. The IDF has
instituted this measure in the past during sensitive diplomatic
periods.
RELATED:Police complete final riot drill before PA statehood bid Shaath: No West Bank violence unless settlers start it Such operations will be carried out only to prevent imminent
terrorist attacks that are in motion, with the understanding that Israeli
incursions into Area A embarrass PA security forces and undermine their
authority in the eyes of the Palestinian people.
Other gestures include
permits for construction projects in Area C, which is territory in the West Bank
under Israeli military and civil control, and possible moves to improve freedom
of movement in the West Bank.
The PA has, for example, prepared 20
different projects on land in Area C that it is planning to move forward with
following its unilateral declaration of statehood at the UN later this
week.
The IDF Central Command is on high alert amid concerns that large-scale demonstrations will break out,
and it has significantly beefed up its forces in the West Bank.
The
Central Command has prepared an individual-security program for all of the
settlements in the West Bank, which it fears could be marched on by Palestinian
demonstrators.
At the same time, though, the IDF does not identify
motivation among the Palestinian public to resort to violence following the UN
move and believes that the month of September will pass quietly.
The
challenge will possibly come several weeks later, after the Palestinian public
realizes that the PA did not achieve independence at the UN. Palestinians might
then rise up to violently protest against Israel.
In order to minimize
violence, the IDF has set up a joint team with PA security forces which meets on
a weekly basis and is meant to coordinate various steps taken by each side to
prevent a violent escalation.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime
Minister Salam Fayyad have both come out against the use of violence and the IDF
believes that Palestinian security forces will take action to stop a major
escalation.
Meanwhile Monday, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz
said that the IDF was prepared for the upcoming challenges Israel faces in the
Middle East.
“The ramifications of the earthquake that struck our region
can already be felt on several different fronts, and it is possible that the IDF
and the State of Israel are facing a complicated period full of new challenges,”
Gantz said during a ceremony to commemorate the Kfir Brigade’s fallen soldiers.
