In 1996 PA ‘Security Forces’ killed 17 IDF soldiers.
By Hezy Laing
Yoni Ben Menachem is a senior analyst on the Palestinian Authority at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA).
He says the security situation in Judea and Samaria is very worrying, Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces could turn on Israel at any moment.
Ben-Menachem, who relies on his many years of experience as a political correspondent who accompanied decision-makers at critical junctures, argues that the existence of an army of over 70,000 heavily armed Arabs, defined by the PA as “police,” constitutes a blatant deviation from the Oslo Accords and a ticking time bomb that no one has dealt with for decades.
Under the Oslo Accords the PA was allowed a maximum police force of 12,000.
He recalls the events of the Western Wall Tunnel in 1996 as a vivid example of the moment when the same Palestinian forces opened fire on IDF soldiers, and emphasizes that the distance between relative calm and a large flare-up is a matter of a few seconds.
In late September 1996, Israel opened a northern exit to the Western Wall Tunnel in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Although the tunnel itself had existed for decades, the new opening was depicted by the PA as a dangerous unilateral Israeli move altering the status quo around sensitive holy sites triggering widespread Arab rioting across Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
The most dramatic escalation occurred when PA police officers opened fire on IDF soldiers, marking the first time that armed PA security forces—created under the Oslo Accords—engaged in direct combat with Israeli troops.
The clashes erupted in multiple locations, including Ramallah, Shechem, Bethlehem, and the Gaza Strip.
The most intense fighting took place near Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem, where Palestinian police and armed terrorists exchanged heavy gunfire with IDF soldiers stationed at the site.
Several Israeli soldiers were killed in these engagements.
In Ramallah, Palestinian police positioned on rooftops fired at Israeli positions, leading to prolonged firefights.
The violence quickly spread, with PA police units joining civilian demonstrators in coordinated attacks on Israeli positions.
Over three days of clashes, 17 IDF soldiers were killed by PA security forces.
Ben Menachem says the conventional security concept that was shattered on October 7th requires Israel to change its methods and stop focusing on the enemy’s intentions, since these can change overnight, and focus only on its capabilities.
He notes that the PA possesses huge quantities of weapons, including armored vehicles that Israel itself has approved to enter, all of which could be used to raid communities in Judea and Samaria and even within the Green Line.
He calls on the Israeli government to act immediately to disarm the PA, with the understanding that this is an existential threat that can no longer be tolerated, especially in light of the bitter lessons learned from the massacre in the Gaza envelope and the urgent need to learn lessons in our relations with the Palestinians.
