Israel freezes its war on terror

By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Feb 07, 2005

Israeli Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz Sunday announced a total freeze of Israel’s war on “Palestinian” Islamic terror, which has claimed the lives of thousands of Jewish men, women and children.

Mofaz said military operations against wanted Arab terrorists would remain halted so long as the killers agreed to turn in their arms, promised not to kill any more Jews, and renounced their membership in recognized terrorist organizations.

A day later, Mofaz told visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority was also doing nothing to ensure the terrorists were not planning more attacks.

Meanwhile, Abbas’s Fatah faction said for now it would only murder Israeli soldiers and those Jews living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Mofaz told Sunday’s cabinet meeting that Israel had reached an agreement with the PA whereby IDF operations to apprehend or eliminate wanted “Palestinian” terrorists would been halted indefinitely.

That state of affairs would persist so long as the terrorists fulfilled five conditions:

1. Hand in their weapons to the PA;
2. Promise not to participate in further terrorist attacks on Israelis;
3. End their membership in recognized terrorist organizations;
4. Place themselves under the supervision of PA security forces;
5. And remain inside PA-controlled towns and cities.

Mofaz also said he had approved the release two jailed terrorists as requested by Abbas.

At least one of the two was involved in numerous terrorist ambushes, one of which resulted in the wounding of an Israeli Arab.

Israel’s General Security Service has voiced its absolute opposition to setting free prisoners who had actively taken part in planning or executing terror attacks, as doing so would severely erode Israel’s deterrence.

Who is providing security?

A day later, Mofaz told Rice that “Palestinian” terrorist elements were planning to mass murder more Jews ahead of Tuesday’s Sharm el-Sheikh summit in order to disrupt renewed peace efforts.

And Abbas’s PA, Mofaz told the American, is doing virtually nothing to prevent these attacks from happening.

This revelation left many in Israel wondering who at this point was doing anything to stop the terrorists from planning more atrocities.

Fatah’s generous offer

Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Council of Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction decided Monday that its members should stop targeting Israeli civilians inside sovereign Israel, for now.

IDF soldiers and Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip would remain fair game for Fatah terrorists, the PLO’s WAFA news agency reported.

The Revolutionary Council stressed the right of the Palestinian Arabs to murder any Jew engaged in “colonization” or security efforts.