With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to make a decision about the future of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, a Foreign Ministry official has spoken out to say it would be better for Israel to keep the mission in place.
The official said the mission does not cause any harm to Israel, and even helps mitigate European pressure about the city.
"As far as Europe is concerned, as long as the observers are there, Hebron is all right, and there is no need to worry about what happens there. Removing the observers could spur the Europeans into taking action and pressuring [Israel] – why would we need that?" the official said.
The TIPH mission, which contains personnel from Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey, was originally launched at the invitation of the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, with the aim of monitoring and recording any violations of international humanitarian law.
Because the matter is politically charged, the official said the Foreign Ministry had not adopted an official stance, but that a professional evaluation had led to the conclusion that keeping the mission in place would be less detrimental than removing it.
"In all the years they've been there, there have only been two documented incidents of [members of the TIPH] attacking Israeli residents of the city. That's harm we can live with," the official said.
The TIPH was first deployed over 20 years ago, following Baruch Goldstein's massacre of Muslim worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs. Recently, however, a growing number of complaints have alleged its members are violently targeting the Jewish community in Hebron. These allegations have been compounded by accusations made by a former TIPH officer suggesting that mission officials are embroiled in fraud and perjury, which they spare no effort to cover up, including by smuggling TIPH members out of Israel to evade punishment.
Following these incidents, a number of right-wing activists – including Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and representatives of the Hebron Jewish community – began lobbying Netanyahu not to renew the force's mandate, ending its presence in Hebron. Netanyahu said he would look into the matter and make a decision by the end of December.
Earlier this month, Bennet Nygaard Solum, who served as TIPH's chief procurement and financial officer twice in the last decade, testified before an Oslo-based notary that "the TIPH fails to meet its own code of ethics. It disregards Israeli and Palestinian law in Hebron and prefers to protect its own members from any allegations of wrongdoing, with all that that entails."
In his affidavit, Nygaard Solum admitted he had taken part of such cover-ups in the past.
"The reason for the change in my position is that I want to bring these facts to light. I knew of some of these things in 2011, but at the time I was advised not to say anything," he said.
