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Shin Bet: We Thwarted 560 Terror Attacks in 2019

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By: TPS Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) head Nadav Argaman attended on Monday a ceremony to celebrate outstanding Shin Bet operatives, during which Argaman revealed that the Shin Bet thwarted hundreds of terrorist attacks.

“Last year was a year filled with security challenges in all the areas we operate in. We thwarted over 560 significant attacks, including 10 suicide bombings, four kidnapping attacks and over 300 shootings,” he stated.

This success was the result of the Shin Bet’s “investment, determination, perseverance, professionalism and creativity that characterize your work,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s Prize was given to six groundbreaking projects, and employees were awarded certificates of appreciation.

“Hundreds of Israelis have been saved thanks to your activity and I thank you for it,” Netanyahu stated. “This is a very great achievement that requires the combined effort of heart and mind.”

He also noted that he “could count on my hand the number of countries that do not want to cooperate with us. We are in touch with various countries that once, we could not even dream that they would cooperate with us; however, today, very many of them are doing so.”

“They all want to cooperate with Israeli intelligence. We are in an unprecedented diplomatic, economic, operational and military opening,” he added.

In March of 2017, TPS reported that Argaman predicted that Hamas and other groups may attempt to ramp up terror attacks.

“The relative calm we have experienced [over the past year] is deceptive, intoxicating, and illusory,” said Argaman during a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hearing. “The terrorist organizations, especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad, try to carry out terror attacks inside Israel every day and we are operating day and night to prevent them.”

2016 began with a de-escalation in the security situation, largely attributed to the deterrence created by anti-terror operations to ramp down the wave of terror that began in October, 2015. There were 214 terror attacks in January and February, 2016, compared to hundreds of attacks in October, 2015, alone. 17 civilians were killed and 149 wounded in terror attacks during 2016, compared to 20 killed and 188 wounded in 2015.

But Argaman also said that despite the drop in the number of attacks and disturbances last year, the Shin Bet recorded an increase in “significant” attacks, indicating that many young Palestinians still consider terror to be the best method of bringing about regional change.

Although “lone-wolf” terrorism has been the most visible terror phenomenon, the security agency also recorded an increase in the number of independent terror cells. The Shin Bet director cited the development of advanced surveillance techniques capabilities for the agencies improved ability to detect and detain individual terrorists before they strike.

            (TPS)

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