‘Unless We Crack Down, Third Intifada Is Upon Us’

IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Yehiam Sasson, former head of the counterterror headquarters at the National Security Council, says that the government must change its tune quickly if it is to avoid an all-out Arab terror war.

“In my estimation, we are at the beginning of a possible third intifada. The question is if it will develop into a full intifada,” indicating a terror war, Sasson told Artuz Sheva this week. “It depends on the scope of operations that the State of Israel takes immediately.”

According to the former counterterror chief, “The government needs to define a higher priority for dealing with the incidents, and if quick steps aren’t taken this will be a third intifada.

“Yehudah, Shomron and Yerushalayim need to receive high priority; the security forces must take continuous uncompromising action against Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad, and not make do with merely responding to terrorism.

“It may be that soldiers and officers dealing with incidents like rock-throwings and stabbings will need to harm the terrorists and kill them. In my estimation several actions like that against terrorists could get the message across.”

In dealing with the current situation Sasson argued that diplomatic considerations should not be given weight, but rather, “The military action needs to be continuous, not dependent on any diplomatic cause.

“Within Yehudah and Shomron there are terror sources. The IDF has the tools to reach them and eliminate them.

“We must not act with kid gloves. We need to bolster the actions against all the Hamas infrastructures in Yehudah and Shomron, even if it harms cooperation with the Palestinian Authority.”

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the October 8th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.