Skip to main content

Israel, West Bank Quiet For Now Amid Region in Flames

Israel is surrounding itself with more fences and tightening security measures in anticipation of more violence on its borders as regional unrest continues.
Israeli police officers stand guard atop a wall overlooking Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, during the holy month of Ramadan July 26, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION CRIME LAW) - RTX11ZWT
Read in 

When the chips are down, it’s better to start off with the half-full glass, even if it’s much less than half full. “Look at this amazing thing,” a high-ranking Israeli military official told me on Aug. 14.

The official told me, “In the last couple of days, Egypt has seen hundreds of fatalities and thousands of casualties, and the numbers just keep rising. For a long time, Iraq has been seeing about a hundred fatalities daily. In Syria, the number of weekly fatalities ranges between 900 and 1,000. The Gaza Strip and Sinai are seething. Everybody’s killing everybody. Now Lebanon is also starting to rip apart and count bodies. And where’s the quietest place in the Middle East right now?” He answered instantly: “In our territories, in Judea and Samaria. Not long ago we saw a rise in the number of stone-throwing and Molotov-cocktail incidents, but that’s all water under the bridge. There’s total quiet. The Palestinian Authority and the Shin Bet are able to generate a perfectly calm atmosphere and reality. Terror is practically nonexistent. This quiet is almost exemplary.”

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.