As the clock counts down to July 1 – the date touted for the beginning of Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the West Bank, and specifically the Jordan Valley – the IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Israel Police and civilian security organizations are planning for the worst-case scenarios.
While security forces are still in the dark regarding the whens and hows of the implementation of sovereignty over areas that will affect the local Palestinian populations, they have been readying troops and civilian bodies for the moment that the curtain of uncertainty is lifted and there is a return to the violence on the levels seen during the First and Second Intifadas.
The IDF has been preparing for the various scenarios for several months under the name “Shahar Beharim” (“Dawn in the Mountains”), but it has been doing so in the dark and with no clear information on what exactly is expected to happen.
“No one knows what’s going to happen, but that doesn’t really bother me because we are prepared for the worst-case scenario,” Meni Blonder, director of security of the Binyamin Regional Council in the central West Bank, told The Jerusalem Post.
Blonder explained that the defense establishment has prepared for a wide range of scenarios should annexation happen and Palestinians begin to target soldiers and civilians in response.
Last week, security and emergency services held a large-scale drill simulating a mass-casualty attack. The drill included IDF troops, Magen David Adom paramedics, firefighters and civilian security bodies. They trained on rescuing civilians who had been targeted by several Palestinian terrorists who attacked a main road with sniper fire and IEDs (improvised explosive devices).
That was just one of the many scenarios that security and rescue services have prepared. Others include anything from an increase in stone-throwing, shooting attacks, infiltrations into Jewish communities, stabbings, vehicular ramming attacks, IEDs and more.
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