Since Shin Bet security service head Avi Dichter spoke at
Sunday's cabinet meeting, everyone else has not stopped
talking about what he said. The most talked-about statement
he made then concerned the possibility of violence from the
extreme right in reaction to the implementation of the prime
minister's disengagement plan. The Knesset will hold a
special debate about the remarks and the threat posed by
extremists.
"The activities of Israel's extreme right have escalated,"
Dichter said. He cited a case of a colonel who was walking
with his wife in Yerushalayim when they were verbally
assaulted after he was identified as having been involved in
action against Kahane College in Tapuach.
The Right wing in Israel that opposes the unilaterial pullout
from Gaza immediately protested, saying that Dichter was
engaging in generalizations from a few extremists and
proceeding to tar an entire community of hundreds of
thousands that is law-abiding. The Vaad Rabbanei Yesha called
Dichter's remarks, "Incitement, rebellion and fomenting
divisiveness about an entire community." Many spokesmen were
angry that Dichter spoke in generalizations and did not cite
any specifics or name names. They said that if he had
specific information he should use it or make it public,
since the legitimate Right is eager to stop the actions of
the extremists which often hurt their cause.
The Left pounced on the statements, saying that right wing
extremism must be suppressed.
Interesting was the reaction of the police and the IDF. Both
said that this assessment was a complete surprise to them.
Their intelligence projections were that there would be no
significant violence and they did not expect any bloodshed
instigated by Jews.
In other matters, Dichter said that suicide bombings remain
the biggest problem in fighting terrorism. He said that while
suicide bombings make up less then one percent of all terror
attacks, they account for 70 percent of all those killed and
wounded.
The security establishment, aided especially by the security
fence, has made enormous strides in fighting Palestinian
terror, and terror is not an endless pit, but rather a
"barrel that has a bottom." Palestinian terror, Dichter said,
"is not an ocean that is impossible to empty."
Dichter said that since Operation Defensive Shield in April
2002, which marked a significant escalation in Israel's
response to the terror, 5,850 terrorists have been removed
from circulation. About 80 percent of them were arrested, and
some 880 were killed. Some 600 of those arrested were
potential suicide bombers who were arrested either while
trying to carry out an attack or "on a waiting list" to carry
out an attack.
Dichter said there have been numerous successes in fighting
terror, and called on the government to continue with these
actions in order to finish the job and "empty the barrel."
With regard to the Palestinian Authority (PA), Dichter said
that its leadership paralysis continues. He said that all of
the PA's numerous security forces are still under the control
of PA chairman Yasser Arafat, and that there is little chance
he will carry out the security reforms the Egyptians are
demanding of him.
He said that about 45 percent of the PA's $1 billion budget
is provided by tax revenues Israel transfers to the PA. Of
this, Arafat's office gets $8 million a month, which pays
some 300 employees. Dichter said he cannot be sure that none
of this money ends up in the hands of terrorists.
Syria and Iran, Dichter said, support the terror
infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas has
headquarters in Damascus that is in direct contact with Hamas
in the West Bank and, to a lesser degree, with Hamas in
Gaza.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Iranian intelligence, he
said, are also in direct contact with Hamas, the Islamic
Jihad, Tanzim and with Israeli Arabs.
Finally, Dichter said that arms smuggling from Egypt is not
limited to the tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor between
Gaza and Egypt, but also includes the smuggling into the
Negev, and from there to the West Bank. He said that Bedouin
are making huge sums of money on this smuggling route, which
in the past was primarily used to smuggle drugs and other
contraband, but is increasingly being used to smuggle in
arms.
Dichter explained that the firing of Qassam rockets is a
result of their inability to get through the security fence
around Gaza to carry out terrorist attacks. He said that
combating the rocket firings requires that Israel enter Gaza
and assert a presence in the areas from which the rockets are
fired. Israel will feel free to move into areas from where
rockets are launched, even after disengagement.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Shinui faction on Monday
that he is pained by threats to his life that he has received
from the far Right.
Referring to himself, Sharon said, "It pains me that someone
who has devoted his entire life to protecting Jews now must
be defended from Jews."
Stressing that he has not negotiated with any party on the
formation of a new government, Sharon said that he wants to
have a religious party in the government, but said it might
not continue to be the NRP. He also said that United Torah
Judaism does not want to sit in a coalition with Shinui.
Sharon said he is determined to push forward with his
unilateral disengagement plan, even if he must change his
coalition in order to do it.
