Outgoing Southern Command chief: Don't trust Dahlan

Haaretz ^ | Friday, June 27, 2003 Sivan 27, 5763 | Amos Harel

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Major General Doron Almog does not have great faith in Mohammed Dahlan. The head of the Israel Defense Forces' Southern Command and the Palestinian Minister for Security are old acquaintances: In 1994, Almog, then a brigadier general, oversaw the IDF's redeployment in the Gaza Strip under the "Gaza and Jericho First" agreement. Dahlan came from Tunis to head the Preventive Security Service in Gaza. During the first 10 months of the deal, 18 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, were killed in Gaza. The attacks, mostly committed by the Islamic organizations, continued despite Dahlan's assurances that the Palestinian Authority would stop them.

"Right at the beginning, we had four people killed near Netzarim Junction," Almog recalled this week. "We quickly understood where things were heading."

Almog, 52, spoke with Haaretz during a parting tour of IDF units in Gaza. In another 10 days, he will leave for several months of study in the United States. He talked openly of what he expects to happen in the territories in the near future, and his opinions are far from flattering to senior PA officials. The last thing that interests Dahlan, he said, is Israel's security.

"I'm not even certain how interested he is in the welfare of the ordinary Palestinian. For some weeks now, we have been holding contacts about transferring security authority for northern Gaza. The IDF is sitting in the Beit Hanun industrial area to prevent the firing of Qassam rockets at Sderot. We told him: `Take responsibility, so that the workers there can get back to earning a living.' He didn't even respond."

This frankness has led to Almog being excluded from the most recent security talks with the Palestinians, which are being run by Major General Amos Gilad.

Even if an agreement is reached - and after 1,000 days of conflict, Almog believes that "temporary conditions" for a cease-fire have been created - Almog does not expect much of the PA security services. "They will never be `arrest subcontractors' for us. No Palestinian wants to be seen as a collaborator. The PA will not fight Hamas. Their model is calming things down without using force. The hard-core terrorists, the arms production and the incitement will continue to exist, on top of the huge wells of hatred created by the preachers in the mosques every Friday. There they say explicitly: `The fight will continue until Ashdod and Ashkelon are liberated.'"

Almog supports attempts to assassinate senior Hamas officials: "It is enough to see [Abdel Aziz] Rantisi's face recently. It radiates fear." But he is under no illusion that Israel will thereby liquidate the organization. "Every pinpoint prevention cuts off one head and puts another in its place," he said.

Speaking to his officers, Almog urged them "under no circumstances to place our trust in the PA." He believes that by continuing current security doctrines, it is possible to "contain" terror withing the Gaza Strip - to keep it at a tolerable level and to ensure that it does not spill over into Israel.

But he also believes that Palestinian employment should be encouraged via industrial parks. The one at Erez Checkpoint has grown by 50 percent over the last three years and now employs some 4,000 Palestinians; similar parks should be created at the Karni and Sufa checkpoints, he said.

Almog is a great believer in the separation fence between Israel and the West Bank, noting that the fence around Gaza, plus its attendant security zones patrolled by the IDF, has kept Gazan terrorists from infiltrating Israel almost completely. "What can be done along a 60-kilometer length can also be done along a 300-kilometer length," he said.

As for the future, Almog does not hide his ambitions. He is a candidate to become the next deputy chief of staff, and says that other jobs do not interest him. He will stay in the army only if he has a shot at becoming chief of staff.

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He speaks the truth. Never trust terrorists to keep their word.

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Even if an agreement is reached - and after 1,000 days of conflict, Almog believes that "temporary conditions" for a cease-fire have been created - Almog does not expect much of the PA security services. "They will never be `arrest subcontractors' for us. No Palestinian wants to be seen as a collaborator. The PA will not fight Hamas. Their model is calming things down without using force. The hard-core terrorists, the arms production and the incitement will continue to exist, on top of the huge wells of hatred created by the preachers in the mosques every Friday. There they say explicitly: `The fight will continue until Ashdod and Ashkelon are liberated.'"