The IDF intended to use force, if necessary, in order to recover the body of the Druze youth Tiran Pero, who was killed the other day in a car accident in Jenin. Messages in this spirit were conveyed to the Palestinian security forces: if you do not act and return the body, we told them, we will act .
The Palestinians did act, and returned the body yesterday.
It was the culmination of a security coordination effort, which was also assisted by international actors.
The claim that the Palestinians acted because they feared revenge from the Druze in Israel sounds serious against the background of the loud protest of the members of the community, but it has less evidence on the ground.
If anything, it is more likely that they were afraid of an economic boycott of the members of the minorities in Israel, which could have severely damaged the economy of the North Bank.
The person who led the efforts to return the body is the coordinator of government operations in the territories, Major Rasan Aliyan.
He is a Druze himself, former Major General Golani and head of the West Bank Civil Administration. There are few Israelis today who know the Palestinian arena as well as he does. The industry connections he maintains in it are of great security importance.
There is no doubt that the Palestinian Authority's grip on northern Samaria has weakened greatly in the past year.
This is manifested, among other things, in the increase in the scope of attacks and the terrorists who come out of it.
As a result, Israel was required to significantly increase operational activity in the sector: almost every night, arrests and raids are carried out there, often with live fire.
Almost every night there are arrests and raids, often with live fire.
IDF activity in Jenin (archive), photo: IDF spokesman
But alongside this, Israel insists on maintaining security cooperation with the Palestinian mechanisms (or what is left of them).
This was done in order not to release the Palestinians from responsibility for what happened in their territory, and also not to accept the full responsibility on Israel's shoulders.
Such a move, if required, may have far-reaching implications: from putting soldiers at risk in the short term, to the possibility that the civil burden of Palestinian life will also be imposed on Israel.
The recovery of Peru's body proved that there was someone to talk to on the other side.
that the security coordination works (even if not perfectly), and that it is also in Israel's interest.
This is particularly relevant against the background of the demands heard in recent days, as part of the coalition negotiations, to remove the Civil Administration from the Ministry of Defense and transfer it to the responsibility of other elements in government ministries. This is a dangerous and irresponsible idea. To the fact that military officers will be subordinate to the Civil Ministry, and will be disconnected from the operational-intelligence coordination with the IDF "L, will have far-reaching consequences.
No treasury official will be able to manage the sensitive equalizer of security talks with the Palestinians, and certainly will not be able to serve as a conduit for conveying messages in times of crisis.
The recovery of his body proved that there was someone to talk to on the other side.
Tiran Peru who was killed in an accident in Jenin and his body was kidnapped, photo: no
Such an official will also not be accepted in the middle of the night in Qatar or the Emirates to solve a security or humanitarian crisis, nor will he receive a listening ear from international organizations or Western capitals.
The Civil Administration is the branch that allows the IDF to exercise its sovereignty as an extension of the government, by providing civil solutions in the territory under its control. Damage to it is the de facto annexation of the territory, with all the meanings that accompany it. Such a move is a fast path to a bi-national state, or to an apartheid state. These meanings should be clear to the public, who may be confused by the political laundry of words. A responsible political echelon must avoid this. Israel has enough problems in the Palestinian arena, and it should not add additional and dangerous problems to them on its own initiative.
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