Earlier this month, Israel removed 32 members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah s military wing, from its list of wanted men, and has extended a probation period for 220 additional men. This move was part of an agreement Israel and the Palestinian Authority entered into in July, which provides a mechanism - based on behavior during a probation period - by which militants could be removed from Israel s lists of individuals to be arrested or assassinated. At the beginning of the probation period, the men signed a document obligating them to refrain from taking part in any military activity, surrendered their weapons to the PA, and accepted a series of restrictions on their activity. In November, three months after the start of the program, a statement issued by Israel s General Security Service announced that the results of the amnesty deal indicate a change on the ground and we are seeing that some of the militants are indeed abandoning the path of terror. Last week, a report issued by the typically-hawkish Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) found that the second three-month phase of this program concluded successfully with most of the wanted men, upwards of 200, fulfilling its requirements. While a number of exceptions - marginal in their extent - were identified in the process, the decisive majority of wanted men in the program stayed moderate and met their conditions. In parallel, the atmosphere that was created in the West Bank contributed to a general drop in the number of terror attacks and in their gravity, including among terrorists that were not included in the agreement. This change in the behaviour of those not covered by the program is attributed to a positive dynamic that was established following [the agreement]. The ITIC report also found that the contribution of the PA s security services to the success of the program was limited. The success of this phase comes principally from the motivation of the wanted men in the program to improve their personal standing by returning to the routine of civilian life. Speaking about the amnesty program, Knesset Member Avshalom Vilan said that removing the al-Aqsa members from Israel s list of wanted men was the right thing at the right time, adding that Israel must work to strengthen the moderate [Palestinian] forces and fight the fundamentalists. Palestinian officials, however, expressed disappointment over the limited number of wanted men in the program. Israel is aware that all of the wanted al-Aqsa members have stopped engaging in any activity that could even come close to threatening the Jewish state, but the Israelis chose to exclude a number of wanted men they want to use as bargaining chips in future negotiations with us, one PA official told Ynet. At a conference sponsored by the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Israeli military experts presented an alternative to Israel s current use of roadblocks in the West Bank. The alternative was formulated by a team comprised of senior reserve officers in the IDF, including former heads of Military Intelligence and the Civil Administration, as well as division, brigade, and battalion commanders. Its recommendations were sent to Defence Minister Ehud Barak. In their presentation, the officers argued that while West Bank checkpoints prevent terror attacks in the short term, they also motivate terror. The officers suggested that reducing the number of checkpoints - which now stands at 550 - could help calm the atmosphere in the West Bank and undermine the status of Hamas in Gaza. Their alternative plan is based on a system of roving roadblocks, a rear defence line adjacent to the Green Line, better protective measures on the roads used by Israelis, and improved coordination with the Palestinian security forces. In meetings with Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner voiced similar concerns. He said that the number of West Bank checkpoints intensifies the desperation and frustration of the Palestinians. Israel is under particular pressure these days to ease the checkpoints around the city of Nablus, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has worked to wrest control from militias, getting local Hamas activists to commit to obey the law and seeing to it that only police officers carry weapons. Palestinian negotiators reportedly raise the situation in Nablus in every meeting with their Israeli counterparts, asking for movement in and out of the city to be eased. They warn that Abbas credibility will be increasingly harmed if the 170,000 residents of Nablus don t see improvements soon. As long as the Israelis keep doing business as usual in Nablus, this will ultimately undermine all the efforts of the Palestinian security, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Earlier this month former British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited the city, where he commented that the weight of the occupation is very heavy here. He added that the PA is meeting its Road Map obligation to disarm militias, and that It s important that this has a response from Israel, with respect to its obligations. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org. Continue reading at: www.peacenow.org/mepr.asp?rid=&cid=4538
