(Ha'aretz) Ze'ev Schiff - Some 472 Palestinians who were involved in terror have been killed and another 3,351 have been arrested by the Shin Bet, including 1,331 in administrative detention. The Shin Bet prisoners are suspected of involvement in terrorist actions - in other words, most have "blood on their hands." The Shin Bet can therefore say 3,823 Palestinians who were involved in terror have been taken out of the picture. If so many of the suicide bombers had not been caught in time, the losses suffered by Israel would have been astronomical and could have had a strategic impact, which is precisely the objective of Hamas, Fatah Tanzim, and Islamic Jihad. Israel's achievements in preventing attacks are considered a professional success and have drawn the interest of foreign intelligence organizations. Yes, the number of attacks is declining and the attackers' ranks include more and more small fry, but the latter are also capable of inflicting major losses.
2003-04-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive