Security cabinet meets as far-right advocates sharp crackdown in West Bank
PM’s office touts ‘series of decisions’ after deadly spate of attacks, without elaborating; Gallant tussles with Ben Gvir, who calls for return of targeted killings
The security cabinet met Tuesday following several recent deadly terror attacks in the West Bank, with far-right ministers advocating for a series of measures that have been met with pushback from top security officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement after the meeting, saying ministers agreed on “a series of decisions to target terrorists and authorized the prime minister and the defense minister to act on the matter.”
The statement did not elaborate on what those decisions were.
“The cabinet supports the commanders and soldiers of the IDF and the members of the security forces in their activities against terrorist elements for the security of the citizens of Israel,” it added, amid escalating criticism by settlers and far-right coalition lawmakers against the military.
The high-level forum was initially scheduled to convene September 10, but Netanyahu moved up the meeting after an Israeli woman was killed Monday in another shooting in the West Bank, the third terror victim in as many days.
Shortly after the meeting, partial quotes were leaked to Hebrew media of an exchange between National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the latter of whom was blamed a day earlier by the former and other ultranationalist ministers for the deadly terror wave.
According to the leaks, Ben Gvir called for the IDF to impose closures and partial lockdowns of Palestinian villages, in addition to erecting more checkpoints throughout the West Bank, rescinding entry permits for Palestinian laborers, carrying out targeted assassination of Palestinian terror leaders in the West Bank and further tightening the conditions of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails.
“There is a danger of friction and you have to pay attention to it. It used to be a few dozen [terrorists] and today it is already hundreds,” Gallant was quoted as saying in response, explaining that violent events have a tendency to snowball in the West Bank.
Gallant added the IDF has been stretched thin due to an uptick in settler violence and that Palestinian terror groups have exploited this weakness to carry out more attacks.
He also addressed coalition members’ denunciations of top IDF commanders.
“These soldiers protect the [West Bank] highways used by these members of Knesset to then go to news network studios and attack [the IDF commanders],” Gallant said.
Ben Gvir fired back.
“I feel like I’m in an imaginary movie. People are being murdered, including a mother in front of her daughter. A few days ago a father and his son were gunned down, and you keep talking about the danger of friction and the danger of [Jewish] nationalist crime,” Ben Gvir said. “Are we crazy? I’m starting to think we’re in Switzerland, as if these are our only problems. This meeting is about terrorism. We need to come up with operational measures for what to do to combat terrorism and not deal with nonsense.”
A source familiar with the matter told the Walla news site that security officials at the cabinet meeting also pushed back against Ben Gvir’s proposals, insisting on continuing a policy of differentiating between terrorists and the rest of the Palestinian population, whose livelihood Israel has an interest in easing.
Channel 12 quoted an unnamed security establishment source who tore into ministers for using the cabinet meeting to bicker amongst themselves and then leak their statements to the press.
“The meeting was insane and unprofessional and was characterized by arguments between ministers that were not substantive,” the source said and predicted a substantive decision on the matter will be made by a smaller forum of ministers, given Netanyahu’s lack of trust in cabinet members like Ben Gvir.
The source noted that the security establishment still opposes launching a wide-scale military operation in the West Bank akin to the 2002 Operation Defensive Shield, despite such demands by Ben Gvir and other far-right lawmakers.
Regarding Netanyahu’s recent remarks that Israel will hit back at the terrorists and those responsible for sending them out to carry out attacks, the source explained the premier was implying targeting Iran, indicating that IDF counterstrikes might extend beyond the West Bank.
Also, during the cabinet meeting, members of the security establishment stressed the need to strengthen the Palestinian Authority, which has been working to clamp down on terror elements in the West Bank — a message that was not welcomed by the far-right ministers, the source said.
As another response to the recent attacks, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is seeking to push through plans to expand West Bank settlements and legalize dozens of outposts, with Channel 12 reporting Monday that he planned to present the proposal at the cabinet meeting next Sunday.
However, Hebrew media outlets said Tuesday that the plan will not come up at the upcoming meeting, with the National Security Council warning the measures could harm national security if advanced at this time and calling for further staff work before considering them.
Violence has surged across the West Bank over the past year and a half, with a rise in Palestinian shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and troops, near-nightly arrest raids by the military, and an uptick in revenge attacks by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians.
The IDF said Monday it was bolstering the West Bank with an additional infantry battalion and two companies, following the two recent deadly terror attacks.
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have left 29 people dead and several others seriously wounded since the beginning of the year, including in Monday’s shooting.
