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Friday, July 2, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Israel sees massive unrest in West Bank following pressure from Obama

TEL AVIV — Israeli security forces have been ordered to prepare for trouble from both Arabs and Jews in the West Bank.

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The preparations have been approved by Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Officials said Barak, after two recent meetings with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the freeze on Jewish construction to avoid another crisis with Washington.

"The assessment is that the prime minister will agree, and then there will be trouble on the ground," the official said.


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Officials said the Defense Ministry has directed the Army and security forces to train for the prospect of Arab and Jewish unrest in the West Bank. They said the ministry has assessed that violence could erupt amid Jewish efforts to renew construction in the region following a 10-month government ban scheduled to expire in September 2010. Netanyahu had pledged to approve new construction upon expiration of the freeze.

"There is rising tension in the area — both Arab and Jewish," an official said. "We must have more and better-trained forces."

On July 1, the Israel Border Police conducted a major exercise in the West Bank in an effort to enhance anti-riot capabilities. The exercise was said to have consisted of more than 400 border officers in scenarios that included Israeli demonstrations and Palestinian attacks.

In one scenario, troops raided a Jewish community and confiscated weapons. Many Jewish residents of the West Bank have been licensed to carry firearms, including those issued by the military.

Officials said the Defense Ministry plans to assign another 600 border police officers to the West Bank by October 2010. They said the units would come from inside Israel as well as along the border with Jordan.

The Border Police was expected to be the lead force in battling Jewish unrest in the West Bank. In April 2010, the military's Central Command established a task force comprised of border officers in an effort to rapidly respond to Palestinian complaints of Israeli vandalism around Nablus.



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