Israel is engaged in a battle against extremist Islamic elements led by the Iranian regime and cannot rely on the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
The remarks came during a visit by Netanyahu to IDF Central Command, during which he held a situational assessment with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The prime minister spoke with members of the Duvdevan commando unit, which specializes in undercover operations and urban warfare.
“We would be pleased if the Palestinian Authority would do its share, but we see that it is not. In most cases, it is not confronting those who need to be confronted. It is unclear how long this will continue, but we certainly cannot rely on it,” he said.
The prime minister stressed Israel’s need to maintain security control in Judea and Samaria, which he said necessitates having boots on the ground.
Netanyahu’s comments come on the backdrop of an uptick in Palestinian terrorism, including an attack late last month at a synagogue in Jerusalem that killed seven Israelis.
The IDF has since March 2022 been engaged in a major counter-terrorism offensive dubbed “Operation Break the Wave,” conducting near-nightly raids to eliminate and capture Palestinian terrorist cells, many of them Iranian-sponsored.