The prime minister's decision to cancel the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron was criticized by the foreign ministers of the countries that comprise the force, chief among them Norway. Ironically, these same countries – Norway, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey – are the most blatant violators of the Oslo Accords, and as has been documented for years, their representatives in Hebron were the first to violate their mandate by targeting the city's Jewish residents and IDF soldiers.
In 1994, at the behest of Yasser Arafat and in coordination with him, the TIPH mandate was created and implemented. With the years, TIPH's stated mission of protecting human rights was exposed as a cover for its political role. Norway, TIPH's chief coordinator and the first country to send observers, is a prime example. In conjunction with Great Britain and the European Union, Norway funds a mechanism for the submission of thousands of anti-Israel petitions, in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, to flood the court system and apply international pressure on Israel. It does this through the Norway Refugee Council, an NGO with an Israeli humanitarian visa that allows it to recruit and train TIPH observers. These observers, who serve in a supposedly neutral body, are recruited by a patently anti-Israel organization.
Norwegian involvement doesn't end there. TIPH's main partners in Hebron are activists from another NGO, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, who enter Israel under the guise of tourists, document IDF soldiers in action and return to their home countries to spearhead anti-Israel campaigns. The primary church group that coordinates EAPPI's activities in Israel and across the globe is none other than Norwegian Church Aid, which is also operated and funded by the Norwegian government. In general, a litany of reports has shown that church-affiliated activists and organizations that are involved in anti-Israel activity are also involved in the TIPH mission and the EAPPI.
The other TIPH member countries also play a problematic political role and often violate certain clauses of the Oslo Accords. Italy and organizations operating on its behalf partake in illegal construction in Area C in Judea and Samaria; Sweden and Switzerland fund political organizations that violate the Oslo Accords and promote Palestinian rejectionism at The Hague; and Turkey has spread its tentacles to east Jerusalem, often with funding by pro-terrorist elements.
The politicization of TIPH has rendered it ineffective, if not outright incendiary. Hebron, one of the flashpoints of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is also fertile ground for the well-funded industry of anti-Israel activity that provides jobs under the guise of "human rights and international law." The city is the focus of numerous organizations, tourists in disguise, diplomats in their own minds and, until recently, TIPH observers. The cancellation of the TIPH mandate is a signal to governments and organizations: Choose human rights and humanitarian aid or the cynical politicization of these principles, which only amplifies friction between the sides.
