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Right-wing minister and IDF clash over Israel's intel assessment

Minister Zeev Elkin accused IDF Intelligence Chief Herzi Halevi of faulty assessments, claiming that the military does not take into account incitement by the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) talks with Likud Knesset member Ze'ev Elkin (L) during a meeting at the parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on May 13, 2015, to vote on a bill to increase the number of ministers permitted. Netanyahu's fledgling coalition passed its first test in a deeply divided parliament when it passed the bill by 61 votes to 59. AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON        (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)
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On Nov. 1, the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Chief of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi appeared before the government to give the Cabinet a security briefing. This part of the Cabinet meeting was therefore classified as “top secret.” Halevi spoke about the situation within the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestinian perspective on the reasons for the outbreak of this current wave of violence.

He told the Cabinet that there were three compounded reasons as to why these riots erupted: tensions on the Temple Mount; the arsen attack in the Palestinian village of Douma, in which the Dawabsheh family was murdered on July 31; and an overall sense of hopelessness and frustration among the younger generation of Palestinians.

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