Here's a slightly odd picture: on one hand, the most right-wing coalition Israel has ever had is about to be assembled. On the other, the government, which has turned the Oslo Accords from an interim agreement to a sort of permanent deal until further notice, has provided the Palestinian Authority's security forces with 10 armored vehicles.
The people who used to shout, "Don't give them guns!" are giving them armed and armored vehicles, and their ideological colleagues are amazed.
MK Moti Yogev called the decision "Chelm-like, if not a crime that puts lives in danger!"
Head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan warned, "Anyone can understand that providing armored vehicles affixed with machine guns to terrorists in uniform is a decision that could result in bloodshed."
Whereas head of the Hebron Hills Regional Council Yochai Damari, asked, "Why do the Palestinians need armored vehicles? Who is shooting at them?"
Good question. Even after our victory in the 1948 War of Independence, there were no Arab states that were willing to acknowledge our existence, and there were Arab officials, like former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who believed that Israel could be annihilated. The dramatic victory in the 1967 Six-Day War made the Arab world realize that Israel was a fact on the ground, and could not be rooted out. The Yom Kippur War was not intended to destroy Israel; but rather to get it to withdraw from the territory it had captured in the Six-Day War. Palestinian acts of terrorism do not aim to wipe out the Jewish state, but rather to maim and horrify it.
The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was the most significant expression of the change that has taken place in how the Arabs view us. In 1988, the PLO joined in, and five years later even signed an interim peace deal with Israel that discussed the establishment of a strong Palestinian police force. Israel allowed the transfer of small-scale weapons to the PA security forces to ensure they could keep control of the militias who refused to accept the change in policy. The Oslo Accords were supposed to lead to a permanent peace deal within five years, but in actuality no historic compromise was reached, mostly because both sides were staunchly opposed to diving the country.
Israel has a strong interest in the security forces of our neighbors retaining their strength. That is the reason why even right-wing governments allow the PA security forces to arm themselves. PA President Mahmoud Abbas describes security coordination with Israel as something "sacrosanct," and the fact that he said so in Arabic, in Saudi Arabia, basically says it all.
Yes, there is the risk that a situation could take place in which our neighboring security forces turn their weapons on us. But all Israeli governments have understood that the danger in a state of anarchy is even greater. The person who decides to give them armored vehicles is neither a fool nor a criminal; he simply sees things differently than he did in the past.
