Meir Indor (Flash 90)

Lt. Col. (ret.) Meir Indor, Director of the Almagor terror victims organization, raised numerous security failures in a sharp letter to the Israeli Security Cabinet on Tuesday.

In light of two fatal terrorist attacks that occurred on Monday in Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion, Indor presented “a compilation of failures and proposals for putting an end to the present deterioration, curated from discussions with officers in the field and terrorism experts who advise Almagor.”

The first point raised in the letter is the fact that the attack in Gush Etzion on Monday in which Dalia Lemkos HYD was murdered took place at a bus station near Alon Shvut, which was “located 50 meters from the station where three young men were abducted this past June.”

“Pursuant to the recent series of automotive terrorist attacks, the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) regional command ordered the placement of barriers at transit hubs, especially those in the Gush Etzion area. Why were they never set up?” asks Indor.

Likewise, he asked, “why were the forces assigned to guard the intersection where the attack took place removed from it?”

Noting the limitation of Arab travel through Judea and Samaria imposed via roadblocks during the 2000 terror war or “Second Intifada,” Indor asked why the government has not taken similar steps in light of the recently escalating security situation since June.

“Why has travel not been restricted, at the very least, along the central artery along the communities of Gush Etzion? Why should Palestinians be permitted to travel freely along this route when it has virtually no relevance to them?”

The hard questions continued, with Indor noting “in the past, terrorists’ bodies were not returned to their families, but buried in a cemetery for terrorists in an undisclosed location. The government thus did not turn the terrorists into role models for young people by allowing massive funerals. Why is the government doing so today?”

Don’t Contain Violence—Fight It

Indor also called for a reconsideration of the management of internal security when faced with rampant terrorism, suggesting that “field commanders” be assigned to lead the efforts instead of the Israel Police, whose experience is in fighting the criminal world.

Noting that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other officials have accused Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of incitement for terror, Indor asked “why has a general curfew not been imposed on Judea and Samaria to combat open incitement?”

Combating the notion of “lone terrorists,” Indor noted such attacks are the product of organized incitement, which lead to demonstrations and result in “lone terrorists.” He called to put an end to the violent demonstrations and riots so as to prevent further escalation.

The Almagor director also criticized the “low-intensity warfare” doctrine guiding Israel’s attempts to contain violence instead of fighting it—”for instance, surrounding rock-throwers instead of confronting them.”

Indor called for more aggressive means to be taken, and likewise noted “authorities have failed to close Palestinian television and radio stations that engage in incitement as they did during Operation Defensive Shield.”

In a particularly troubling note, Indor added “security forces have not yet arrested Fatah and Hamas’ 80 inciters and organizers in eastern Jerusalem, who are financing and organizing the current terrorist activity. Precinct commanders have the list. Though most of the list was compiled by the ISA (Israel Security Agency or Shin Bet), preventive detention and restraining orders have not been employed.”

He added that this lack of action is “unlike the case of a Jew from the Neveh Ya’akov neighborhood whom the commander of the Home Front ordered expelled to Eilat for inciting his neighbors against Arab youths’ entry into the neighborhood.”

Nip Terror in the Bud Before It Kills

“Why is the unit of the Ministry of Justice responsible for acting against incitement not fighting for the arrest of those publishing the anti-Jewish incitement now pervasive online? Why is the cyber crime unit of the Israel Police not acting against this incitement?” asks Indor.

“Had the two aforementioned agencies acted promptly and decisively, two terrorists who published incitement would have been arrested before they had the chance to commit yesterday’s attacks,” he added in a reference to the Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion attacks.

Indor noted that the Arab terrorist who committed the murder in Gush Etzion on Monday was released from prison after only a few years for throwing an incendiary bomb, asking “why are terrorists who throw incendiary bombs—a clear case of attempted murder—sentenced to 5 years in prison instead of 20? What is their goal in throwing incendiary bombs if not to murder?”

Regarding breaches of security fences, by which the terrorist who committed the attack in Tel Aviv was able to illegally enter Israel, Indor asks why regulations are not being enforced at the fence, and why forces are not given orders to shoot those infiltrating illegally.

Finally, Indor asks why additional deterrent measures have not been launched, remarking “a terrorist who embarks on an attack knows that if he is caught, he will only spend a few years in a five-star prison, then be freed as a hero with a salary from the Palestinian Authority. Even if the terrorist is killed and becomes a shahid (martyr), he knows that the Palestinian Authority will give his family a monthly stipend.”

“The government must rectify these two failings by enacting measures to truly worsen imprisoned terrorists’ living conditions and by destroying terrorists’ families homes and expelling them to Jordan, Lebanon, or Gaza,” demanded Indor.