"It's possible to reduce the prospects of a third intifada. The previous intifadas did not break out in a planned way. It was a process that gathered momentum, and in the end we found ourselves we and the Palestinians in the midst of it," said former General Security Service head and minister of home front defense in the outgoing government Avi Dichter this morning.
On the tension over Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, which is causing outbreaks of violence in the territories, Dichter said, "The atmosphere is charged and highly combustible. You see the ages of the demonstrators and realize that the Palestinians are trying to drag us into a situation in which children are killed, which will lead to escalation.
"It would be better not to us the term prisoners when we talk about them," Dichter continued, "Most of the Palestinians in jail are terrorists and murderers in every respect, and they are serving jail sentences from before the Oslo agreements because they committed murder or were involved in the murder of very many Israelis.
"I don't think that the Palestinian Authority will gain from an intifada, just as in the previous instances," Dichter said, "It may be that there are those in the Palestinian Authority who believe that it's possible to draw Israel into violence and emerge as winners from this. The proximity of the events to Obama's visit is also no coincidence.
"The State of Israel, its leadership and security forces, must exercise judgment. If they drag us into a situation in which Palestinians are killed, it will lead to catastrophe," Dichter concluded.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 25, 2013
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013