How will the IDF confront a likely outbreak of violence by local Arabs after the PA statehood bid at the United Nations in September? One suggestion is that the IDF give the PA more guns.
According to reports, the IDF has formalized a series of operational recommendations, which aim to prevent the security situation in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza from spiraling out of control in September.
The brief, already submitted to the government, also states that should violence erupt, the military would strive to keep outright conflicts with Arabs in PA areas to a minimum.
IDF recommendations include several "confidence building measures" vis-a-vis the PA and its security forces, mainly allowing more weapons into PA administered areas from Jordan.
Senior officers in the IDF -- who have apparently taken PA officials at their word -- believe PA officials have a vested interest in avoiding unrest in September, despite a proven track record of joining the terrorists and inciting violent Intifadas at key diplomatic junctures.
The PLO launched the first intifada from 1987-1993 to divert attention from its own failures and mounting criticism from Arabs in Judea and Samaria; and again, following the collapse of the July 11–25, 2000 Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David in which Yassir Arafat rejected then Prime Minister Ehud Barak's unprecedented offer of a PA state that would expand to 90-91% of Judea and Samaria and all of Gaza.
The brief also recommended measures that might make it worthwhile for PA residents to keep the peace: increasing the water supply to PA and Hamas-administered areas, granting permits for the construction of new desalination facilities, increasing the numbers of PA merchants allowed to enter Israel – especially from Gaza.
The IDF also recommended other good-will gestures ahead of September, such as returning the remains of 30 Palestinian prisoners and removing various roadblocks.