Israel recaptures remaining escapees in prison break fiasco
Israeli security forces have redeemed their image after successfully capturing the six Palestinian prisoners who escaped last week from a high-security jail.
If the first half of this drama seemed like Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s worst nightmare, its second half and denouement was a dream come true for the premier and his fragile coalition government. Following the fiasco of the Sept. 6 escape by six Palestinian inmates from Israel’s highest security prison Gilboa that threatened the shaky foundations of Bennett’s coalition, Israel's security forces managed to restore their prestige with an impressive two-week manhunt that culminated on Sept. 18 with the successful capture of the final two escapees. All six, among them the former Fatah leader in the Jenin refugee camp Zakaria Zubeidi had been caught — two on Sept. 10, two on Sept. 11 and the final two on Sept. 18 — without a drop of blood being spilled on either side. Bennett’s sigh of relief seemed to echo from Jerusalem all the way to Ramallah.
In the days following the daring jailbreak, some in Israel worried that Zubeidi would become a Che Guevara-style popular hero and ignite Palestinian violence in the West Bank and Gaza. There was concern that the escapees would manage to reach Lebanon and hook up with Hezbollah or that they would cross into Jordan and plot to destabilize King Abdullah’s rule. Speculation about their capture also did not bode well. They were supposedly armed and willing to fight Israel’s soldiers, security service and police counter-terrorism units to the death. Such an event, experts opined, could turn into a bloodbath and a third intifada and turn the escapees into martyrs whose heroic deaths would set the region on fire.
Their capture was far from a foregone conclusion. “Such an event is not a reality show,” a senior Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “This was a detailed and meticulous operation involving many participants, with intelligence pouring in from the Shin Bet and [military intelligence unit] 8200" and hard work by military and police counter-terrorism teams. “We considered all the scenarios. We were prepared for much harder options, including entering the Jenin refugee camp, considered the most dangerous and toughest place in the West Bank. Happily for us, it ended in the best possible manner, but we must not rest on our laurels. Next time it could end far worse.”
According to indications from the Shin Bet, one of the two last escapees had realized Israel’s worst scenario by reaching the Jenin refugee camp, which is run by hundreds of armed Palestinians who do not answer to anyone, a place that even Palestinian Authority security forces refuse to enter. The escape and rumors bolstered the camp’s image as a symbol and hub of Palestinian struggle. Last month, armed militants in the camp opened fire at PA security forces and local gangs brazenly declared that they were ready and waiting for the Israel Defense Forces, daring them enter the camp and meet their death.
