Palestinians Admit Working With Israel To Foil Attacks

RAMALLAH, West Bank — It’s a revelation that has sent shock waves throughout the Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank and Gaza Strip: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has acknowledged thwarting dozens of attacks on Israelis planned by local militants.

Last month, Palestinian General Intelligence Service chief Majid Faraj told Defense News that the PA has foiled 200 attacks on Israelis, confiscated weapons and arrested 100 Palestinians since October, when the so-called Third Intifada, an uprising against Israel’s dominance of the Palestinian lands, began.

Mr. Faraj framed the policy as crucial to preventing chaos in Palestine that the Islamic State, the violent jihadi group that controls large swaths of Syria and Iraq, might exploit.

Islamic State “is on our border; they are here with their ideology; and they are looking to find a suitable platform to establish their base,” Mr. Faraj told the newspaper. “Therefore, we must prevent a collapse here, because the alternative is anarchy, violence and terrorism. We, together with our counterparts in the Israeli security establishment, with the Americans and others, are all trying to prevent that collapse.”

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