Ya’alon: IDF, Shin Bet have thwarted a multitude of terrorist plots

Defense minister praises IDF for contributing to stability, coordinating joint security activities, and promoting economic cooperation.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon 370 (photo credit: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry spokesman)
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon 370
(photo credit: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry spokesman)
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday praised the IDF’s Central Command, which has responsibility for Judea and Samaria, for “standardizing relations with the Palestinians” and contributing to stability, through coordinating joint security activities, and promoting economic cooperation.
The IDF and the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) have foiled many terrorist plots, Ya’alon added, speaking during a visit to the Central Command’s headquarters in northern Jerusalem.
Israel would not tolerate Palestinian rock and Molotov cocktail attacks on West Bank roads, he said. The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank did not have an interest in sparking a third intifada, but its incitement to hatred and violence was creating lone attackers, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad were seeking a surge in violence, the latter with Iranian support, Ya’alon said.
Asked about a Wall Street Journal report that appeared last week saying that Hezbollah in Lebanon imported parts of supersonic Yakhont anti-ship missiles, Ya’alon said that as far as Israel knew, Hezbollah did not possess the weapon.