Israel has wagered that granting Palestinians self-rule is the best way to build a lasting peace between Arabs and Jews. But in the short term, at least, that has proven to be a security nightmare. NEWSWEEK interviews with top intelligence experts in both Israel and Washington reveal deep concern about containing the current wave of terror. For the Shin Bet, the frustration is especially intense; the agency was already badly tarnished by its failure to head off the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist four months ago. “It’s two crises, coming together at the same time,” says Romach. And the only way out is daunting. The war on terror now hinges on making common cause with Palestinian agents who until recently were the enemy.
Dramatic failures make the biggest headlines, but there have been some successes. In January a booby-trapped cell phone took out Yehya Ayyash, the Gaza-based “Engineer” of suicide bombs for Hamas. Other victories went unreported. Karmi Gilon, who headed the Shin Bet until two days after Ayyash was killed, told NEWSWEEK that the agency and Yasir Arafat’s intelligence agents have foiled more than a dozen attacks by Islamic fanatics in the past six months. Four zealots ready to carry out suicide attacks were arrested; four car bombings were thwarted, one by the Palestinians and three by Israel. And security agents stymied seven plots to kidnap Israeli soldiers. “I must give a good word to the Palestinian Authority in these cases,” says Gilon.
But Arafat has been hamstrung by worries about squeezing too hard. Intent on turning Hamas into a loyal opposition, he has often released suspected militants almost as soon as they were arrested, Gilon said; pressed to help track down Ayyash, Arafat claimed “the Engineer” was in Sudan. That may be changing. Acting on Israeli intelligence, Arafat’s security forces last week charged a man with recruiting three of the latest suicide bombers, and a Jericho court quickly sentenced him to life with hard labor.
Israel wants more cooperation – including tough interrogations for the hundreds of suspects Palestinian police have rounded up in a crackdown on Hamas. So does Washington. Top CIA officials flew to Israel last week in an unprecedented effort to broker closer cooperation between the old enemies against Hamas. Washington also has pledged to pressure Jordan and Saudi Arabia to cut off Hamas’s fund-raising efforts there. Achieving through cooperation the kinds of success it once accomplished singlehandedly may be the sternest test yet for the Shin Bet.
