Israelis conclude amnesty deal reduced violence
Thursday, February 14, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
TEL AVIV — Israel has found that an amnesty offer to Palestinian insurgents proved successful. A government report said the lion's share of more than 200 Palestinian fugitives honored the terms of an Israeli amnesty plan, Middle East Newsline reported. The report said the amnesty of Fatah fighters led to a decrease in insurgency strikes on Israeli targets in the West Bank.
"The second stage of the amnesty plan in which more than 200 wanted terrorists participated is ending successfully," the report by the state-operated Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said. "Although there was a small number of limited irregularities, the majority of the wanted terrorists who participated in the plan showed restraint and kept to its terms."
The amnesty plan was launched in July 2007 and limited to Fatah members in the West Bank declared fugitives by Israel. At the end of the second stage of the plan, scores of fugitives were allowed to leave their hiding places and return to society.
But the report said the Palestinian Authority played a marginal role in the success of the amnesty. PA security services were said to have failed to enforce the terms of the amnesty, in which the fugitives renounced violence.
"However, the contribution of the Palestinian security services to the enforcement and success of the plan was limited and recently even showed more signs of weakening," the report, released on Feb. 12, said. "The minor contribution of the Palestinian security services reflects their dysfunction and many other problems they face."
The report said PA security agencies also failed to implement reform mandated in an international plan. Instead, the fugitives were motivated by a desire to return to normal life.
PA security services relayed additional applicants to the Israeli amnesty program in late 2007. In all, more than 200 insurgents agreed to the terms, and the report said most of them honored the agreement.
"The majority of wanted terrorists who participated in the second stage of the plan showed restraint and kept to its terms," the report said. "The irregularities were marginal both quantitatively and qualitatively."
"There was a dramatic drop in the number and severity of terrorist attacks carried out by wanted Fatah-Tanzim operatives, including those who were not part of the plan," the report said. "In our assessment that was the result of the general atmosphere in Judea and Samaria , however the decrease in activity among participants influenced non-participants."