Linking the Gaza Strip with the West Bank: - Jerusalem Center For ...

stated that “[t]he United States is committed to Israel’ssecurity and well being as a Jewish state, includingsecure and defensible borders.” 225Any territorial link between the West Bank and GazaStrip only augments this threat by facilitating terroristinfiltration into Israel.D. Does Progress in the Peace ProcessDiminish the Threat of Terrorism?Disproportionate emphasis has been placed on defensibleborders in the context of an external threat from, forexample, Iran, to the exclusion of a more imminentthreat: terrorism. Too little, if any, consideration hasbeen given to Katyusha rockets or Qassam rockets orother such weapons being fired from within the GazaStrip and West Bank. Terrorists carrying these readilyavailable and easily transportable weapons could alsoinfiltrate from the West Bank into Israel. The concept ofdefensible borders is, perhaps, even more essential inthis context. Indeed, to see the real importance of theGaza Strip and the West Bank for Israeli security, oneneed only look at the many attacks that were carried outby the Palestinians living in these areas prior to 1967.One can in fact distinguish, as Dan Haloutz, former IDFChief of Staff, between full-scale war and low-scaleconflict. Low-scale conflict does not mean that there areno casualties. However, as compared to full-scale war,which is usually shorter, sharper and generally ends witha much clearer result, low-scale conflict is continuousand somewhat muddied. 226 It is this continuous, lowscaleconflict, which takes the form of thousands of actsof terrorism, with which the authors of this monographare presently concerned.In considering safe passage in the context of terroristinfiltration into Israel, concerns are raised by thepossibility of a terrorist using the safe passage, leavingthe established route (a highway, for example), andentering Israel in order to carry out an attack. Few realizepage 40Masked Palestinian terrorists use real rockets and launchers to perform a training exercise for the media in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo)