For the first time ever a senior security official has warned that the PA is planning a large scale attack against Israeli civilians.
By Hezy Laing
For the first time ever a senior security official has warned that the PA is planning a large scale attack against Israeli civilians.
Last week Police Major General Moshe Pinchi warned that the Palestinian Authority is a growing security threat to Israelis living in Judea and Samaria and even to population centers deeper inside Israel.
Pinchi, Police commander of the Judea and Samaria District, made clear that the threat is not theoretical.
He stated openly that a scenario similar to the October 7 massacre could emerge from what he calls “terror villages” in Judea and Samaria.
His assessment is based on intelligence showing increased terror activity, weapons stockpiling, and coordination between PA‑linked elements and other hostile organizations.
Authorities believe over 150,000 illegal weapons are currently in the hands of Judea and Samaria Arabs.
He emphasized that the scale of such an attack could exceed anything previously anticipated, requiring security forces to prepare for extreme scenarios.
“It can happen,” he said, “and not on the scale we were prepared for in the past.”
Pinchi emphasized that police and security forces are preparing for scenarios far more intense than the public realizes, and he has repeatedly argued that the PA’s internal dynamics, armed personnel, and political instability create conditions that could enable coordinated assaults similar to those seen in previous conflicts.
His comments reflect a broader concern within Israel’s security establishment that the PA’s proximity to Israeli population centers, combined with increasing terror activity, poses a threat that demands urgent attention.
Since October 7th local Judea and Samaria residents have warned that Palestinian Authority’s (PA) institutional policies, financial systems, and educational networks promote violence against Israelis and could lead to a similar massacre. But this is the first time the security establishment has backup up these fears.
This includes PA’s long‑running pay for slay terror‑payment program, a financial incentive system for terrorism. Through the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund, the PA provides structured monthly stipends to Palestinians terrorists found guilty of attacks against Israelis, many of which resulted in civilian deaths.
Intelligence assessments from both Israel and the United States have repeatedly concluded that the PA continues to channel hundreds of millions of dollars into these payments, even after international pressure and attempts to disguise the transfers through alternative mechanisms such as the Palestine Post.
The size of the stipend increases with the severity of the attack and the length of the prison sentence, a structure that critics say directly rewards violence.
Concerns extend beyond finances to the PA’s educational system. Independent audits of PA‑authored schoolbooks, including those conducted by the watchdog organization IMPACT‑se, have documented recurring themes that glorify martyrdom, frame jihad as a noble aspiration, and present Israel as an illegitimate colonial entity.
In many cases, Israel is erased entirely from maps, replaced with references to the “Zionist enemy.” Some textbooks even embed violent themes into mathematics and science exercises, a practice that observers argue normalizes hostility toward Israelis from a young age.
The PA’s public commemoration practices further reinforce these concerns. Dozens of schools, youth camps, and municipal squares under PA administration are named after terrorists responsible for deadly attacks on Israeli civilians.
For example, Dalal Mughrabi, who led the 1978 Coastal Road massacre that killed 37 Israelis, is among the most prominently honored figures.
Meanwhile senior PA officials routinely avoid condemning major terror attacks, including the October 7 atrocities, and at times describe them as a “natural response,” a rhetorical stance that signals approval rather than restraint.
During the Second Intifada, the PA’s own security forces were directly involved in orchestrating suicide bombings and weapons smuggling.
More recently, members of the PA’s active security apparatus and its ruling faction, Fatah, have carried out shootings and stabbings independently, blurring the line between official forces and militant actors.
The PA has also failure to uphold its Oslo Accords commitment to disarm terror groups. Cities such as Jenin and Nablus have become strongholds for armed factions, operating with minimal PA interference.
The so‑called “revolving door” policy—arresting terrorists under international pressure only to release them quietly soon after—has allowed numerous operatives to return to planning attacks.
Together, these patterns form the basis of the argument that the PA functions in ways that endanger Israeli civilians and undermine regional stability.
