The Israeli military intended to use force, if necessary, to retrieve the body of Israeli Druze youngster Tiran Ferro, which was snatched by Palestinian terrorists after he got into a car accident near Jenin, a known Islamic stronghold. The message was made clear to the Palestinian security forces: return the body or we will be forced to act.
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And so the Palestinian Authority did act and returned the body to Israel on Wednesday. It was the result of a security coordination effort assisted by international elements. The claim that the Palestinians acted out of fear of revenge from the Druze community sounds reasonable given the protests of its members but has less evidence on the ground.
If anything, it is more likely that the Palestinians were afraid of an economic boycott by Israeli minorities, which could have severely damaged their economy.
The person who led the efforts to retrieve the body was Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, a Druze himself. Few Israelis know the Palestinian area as well as he does, and the connections he maintains are of great security importance.
It is no doubt that the PA's grip over northern Samaria has greatly weakened in the past year. It can be seen, among other things, in the increase in the scope of attacks and terrorists that originate there. As such, Israel was required to significantly increase operational activity in the region, conducting raids almost every night, oftentimes with live fire.
And yet, Israel insists on maintaining security cooperation with the PA (or what is left of them) both in order to make sure Palestinians are not absolved from responsibility over what is happening in their territory and to avoid assuming all of that responsibility. Such a move may have far-reaching implications: from putting soldiers at risk in the short term to the possibility of the Palestinians' civil burden being imposed on Israel.
The return of Ferro's body proves that there was someone to talk to on the other side, that the security coordination is working (even if imperfectly) and that it is also in Israel's interest. And this is particularly relevant against the backdrop of recent demands voiced in the coalition negotiations to remove the Civil Administration from the Defense Ministry and transfer responsibility to other ministries.
This is a dangerous and irresponsible idea. The fact that military officers will answer to a civilian ministry, and will be cut off from the operational-intelligence coordination with the IDF, will have far-reaching consequences. No official will be able to manage the sensitive security talks with the Palestinians, and certainly not convey messages in times of crisis.
Such an official will not be accepted in the middle of the night in Qatar or the United Arab Emirates to solve a security or humanitarian crisis, nor will he have the sympathetic ear of international organizations and the West. The Civil Administration is the arm that allows the IDF to exercise its sovereignty as an extension of the government by providing civil solutions in the territory under its control.
Damaging it would constitute a de facto annexation o the territory, with all its implications. Such a move would quickly result in a binational state or an apartheid state. What this means should be clear to the public, who may be confused by the confusing political statements.
A responsible political echelon must avoid this. Israel has enough problems in the Palestinian arena, and the last thing it needs is creating more issues for itself.
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