A growing number of Arab terror suspects from the Palestinian Authority were granted entry permits for crossing into pre-1967 Israel, Israel Hayom reported Monday.
Citing data collected by the Knesset”s Research and Information Center, the report said that one out of ten Palestinian Authority residents arrested by Israel for security offenses from 2018 to 2022 had already been issued an entry permit.
The Knesset Research and Information Center document, drafted at the request of MK Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud), revealed that hundreds of Palestinian Arab terrorists had been issued entry permits for pre-1967 Israel.
According to police data, between 2018 and 2022, more than 21,000 Palestinian Arabs were arrested for involvement in security offenses, and about 10% of them, 2,115 had entry permits to pre-1967 Israel.
In 2018, 212 Palestinians with entry permits were arrested, while in 2021, there was a significant increase to 767 arrests due to Operation Guardian of the Walls, which slightly decreased last year to 580 arrests. It was also revealed that 18% of the permit holders arrested for security offenses were arrested in Israel.
Following a series of major terror attacks last year, the IDF began sealing breaches in the separation barrier and repairing it. However, despite these efforts, the Shin Bet estimates that there are some 7,000 Palestinian Arabs illegally residing in Israel.
According to police data, between 2018 and 2022, only 33 Palestinian Arabs were arrested for illegal residence in pre-1967 Israel. This is due in part to the policy by prosecutors to instruct police only to arrest illegal Arab residents after the third offense. From 2018 to 2022, 169 permit holders were arrested for involvement in security offenses, with 83 of them arrested in pre-1967 Israel, and the rest in Judea and Samaria.
The Knesset Research and Information Center document also revealed the number of arrests in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. According to police data, during the years examined, 78,742 Palestinian Arabs were arrested, of which 27%, about 21,000 arrests, were for involvement in security offenses. There was a decrease in the total number of arrests between 2018 and 2020, but starting from 2021 the trend has reversed and the increase continued through 2022.
“A 35% increase in the involvement of Palestinians with entry permits in terror and security offenses is 100% too much,” said MK Milwidsky. “We will not allow the security of the residents of the State of Israel to be compromised to provide economic well-being for the Palestinians. I intend to approach the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Yuli Edelstein, and initiate a discussion as soon as possible regarding the excessively lenient policy of granting entry permits to Israel.”