Reserve Colonel Michael Milshtein, a former senior Israeli intelligence official, warned Sunday that despite a recent decline in terrorist attacks, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) could face serious destabilization if current trends continue.
Speaking about rising tensions, Milshtein noted that while terror levels have decreased and dire predictions of a complete breakdown in Palestinian Authority control have not materialized, two factors could change that trajectory: the ongoing weakening of the Palestinian Authority and what he described as an "ambivalent attitude" toward rising Jewish extremist violence.
"In the internal Israeli discourse, I detect passivity. When we look at the other side, ultimately we're talking about a decline in the scope of terror," Milshtein observed.
He attributed the reduction in attacks partly to effective Israeli security operations, but also to the fact that scenarios predicted by various Israeli officials have not yet come to pass. "Both because of very efficient execution on our part, but also because all the prophecies in Israel about a complete reversal haven't advanced," he explained.
Milshtein warned that current policies could reverse this relative stability. He drew a direct connection between efforts to undermine the Palestinian Authority's governing capacity and tolerance of escalating violence by Jewish extremists, cautioning that continuing on this path could make previously avoided scenarios a reality.
"If we continue and advance all the moves to weaken the Authority and a kind of ambivalent attitude toward the rising Jewish terror, then it's possible that this prophecy will fulfill itself in the end," he said.
His comments came against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the West Bank and a violent incident in the village of Qusra. Amos Harel, a military correspondent for Haaretz newspaper who participated in the same discussion, warned of the potential for broader escalation in the region.
"I think it's worth zooming out, so many vehicles, so many violent incidents, this is a major event," Harel said. "We're two months before elections. It's quite clear that the West Bank is the place that's going to ignite. There's no small panic on the ground."
