For the first time, Israel is preparing for a situation in which security coordination with the Palestinian Authority ceases. According to the ministers' decision at a meeting of the political-security cabinet last Thursday, within a week the defense establishment must present a plan to "reverse the rift" in Judea and Samaria. In addition, solutions will be presented in case the PA's security forces begin to act against Israel.
The proposal to prepare for this scenario was raised in the cabinet by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich many months ago, but so far his position has been rejected. At the meeting, Smotrich again raised the proposal in light of the collapse of the concepts of the defense establishment with the outbreak of the war. The head of Religious Zionism presented the conduct of the Palestinian Authority since the massacre on Black Saturday. The finance minister also reiterated his position not to allow the payment of money in exchange for temporary quiet.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the political-security cabinet meeting: "We are at war, in war we must maintain composure" // Photo: Roy Avraham/GPO
As a result, many ministers joined the position that we must change our approach vis-à-vis the PA and be prepared for a situation in which we will not be dependent on it for security. At this stage, there is still no decision on when a process of severing dependence on the PA will take place, but the goal of the plan is not to get caught in a situation where we are not prepared in case such a scenario develops.
Meanwhile, while the cabinet is preparing to cut off dependence on the Palestinian Authority, the IDF is assisted by an external advisor who advocates the opposite policy. Israel Hayom has learned that the IDF's Strategic Directorate, headed by Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, invited Brig. Gen. (res.) Udi Dekel to serve as an advisor for planning the "day after the war" in the Gaza Strip.
Udi Dekel, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Dekel heads the "Palestinian Plan" of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). In his view, at the end of the war, "a gradual integration of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip, first of the civilian apparatuses," must be achieved. He wrote this a few days ago in an article for the Institute. Dekel also believes that "Israel will be required to take steps of high political and public significance, especially in the context of a political process with the Palestinians."
Dekel also believes that "Israel has a burden of proof... To topple the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip..." and that a "willingness to advance toward a political settlement in the arena of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" should be adopted. It should be noted that contrary to Dekel's opinion, most of the cabinet ministers oppose the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, as do many veterans of the defense establishment.
Gaza. Thinking about the Day After, Photo: E.Y.
The Palestinian Authority has taken a sympathetic line to Hamas and the atrocity it has committed since the outbreak of the war. A document submitted to the cabinet, the "securityist" movement, and researchers from the Jerusalem Center for Public and State detailed the PA's support for the October 7 massacre, directly or indirectly. "To this day, Abu Mazen has neither condemned the massacre nor condemned the terrorists. Terrorists from Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Abu Mazen's organization that controls the PA, actively participated in the massacre," the document said.
They also noted that the Palestinian Authority is expected to pay fixed salaries for life to those who participated in the massacre and survived, as well as to the families of the terrorists who were killed. The scope of these rewards, which are also paid to despicable murderers who murdered Jews wherever they are, is estimated at NIS 1.2 billion a year. Moreover, Abu Mazen himself is working to delegitimize the State of Israel, and persecutes the state and its soldiers in many international forums."
Nir Oz. The PA did not condemn the massacre, photo: Oren Cohen
The IDF said in response: "Brig. Gen. (res.) Udi Dekel and Brig. Gen. (res.) Assaf Orion are esteemed officers who have dedicated their lives to the security of the State of Israel and have been serving in active reserve duty for many years in the strategic planning complex in the IDF's Strategy and Third Circle. The IDF operates in a professional and state manner and is motivated solely by security considerations, in order to protect the security of the citizens of the State of Israel."
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