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Shin Bet head warns of impending wave of terrorism

Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman warned that Palestinian terrorist groups’ motivation to attack remains high, while his organization successfully thwarted hundreds of attacks in 2017.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

The head of the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) warned that Israel may face a wave of Palestinian terror attacks in the coming six months, while the agency has been successful in thwarting some 400 attacks in the past year.

Addressing the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday, Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman said that the relative quiet Israel is currently experiencing is misleading, as the Hamas terror group is exerting great efforts in an attempt to destabilize the Palestinian Authority (PA) and execute terror attacks against Israelis.

Speaking about the security organization’s achievements over the past year, Argaman said the Shin Bet has thwarted some 400 “significant” attacks, including 13 suicide bombings and eight kidnappings.

Furthermore, the agency was successful in foiling 1,100 planned attacks by so-called lone wolf terrorists.

Palestinians committed 54 terror attacks in 2017, half of the 108 attacks carried out in 2016, he noted.

The security chief also noted that his organization has been successful in the cyber realm.

Argaman stressed that “the Palestinian arena has been very unstable over the past year, not only in the [Gaza] Strip and in Judea and Samaria,” and was impacted by “[President Donald] Trump’s announcement that he intends to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.”

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As for the failing unity pact between the PA and Hamas, he said that only time well tell whether it will prove successful and what its ramifications will be for Israel.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said on Thursday that the unity deal is collapsing.

“The reconciliation project is falling apart. Only a blind man can’t see that,” Sinwar said.

“The coming time period should be challenging,” Argaman said, pointing to the incitement by the Palestinian leadership as a catalyst for violence on the Palestinian street.

“These issues present us with an unstable period, but we will contend with it,” he concluded.