Posted on 04/03/22
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) Samaria Brigade headquarters together with ISA Director Ronen Bar and IDF Central Command CO Maj.-Gen. Yehuda Fox, today (Sunday, 3 April 2022).
The Prime Minister held an assessment of the situation with the participation of ISA Samaria Brigade commanders, during which he received an intelligence briefing on the operation to foil the terrorist cell in Jenin last weekend and discussed the situation in the area.
Prime Minister Bennett then visited the ISA Samaria counter-terrorism forward command center and observed the monitoring and gathering activity that serve the brigade in acting on warnings regarding future terrorist attacks.
Prime Minister Bennett:
"Over the weekend, ISA and Israel National Counter-Terrorism Unit forces, together with the IDF, thwarted a terrorist attack, on its way to being carried out.
Like this attack, the terrorists have all kinds of ideas; therefore, we are on highest alert, both the ISA and the Israel Police, in order to identify any fragment of an idea or planning for an attack and to thwart it in time.
Here as well, along the seam line, the IDF is showing maximum presence at hundreds of points where there are breaches, and our goal is to break this wave.
We are now entering a period of 'alert routine' in which we want the citizens of Israel to go back to routine and the security forces will be on maximum alert. This is not an effort of a single operation but of hundreds of continuous operations. Together we will make the effort to break this wave."
ISA Director Bar:
"The agency is currently working in many areas – locally, in Judea and Samaria, online and in Gaza.
Mr. Prime Minister, you are meeting a sharp, determined and proficient organization that learns while in action and under fire. On Shabbat, we came under fire together with our brothers from the Israel National Counter-Terrorism Unit and thwarted a significant terrorist attack. I will also take this opportunity to wish officer S' a quick recovery.
During the tour I held on Shabbat, I asked the district coordinator responsible for the area where the attack was foiled 'What about the personnel? Do they get to breathe a little fresh air?' He looked at me, astonished, and told me 'Mr. Agency Director, It is for precisely this reason that we came to the ISA.'
This is an organization of dedicated personnel, men and women, imbued with a sense of mission and broad responsibility, who do everything in their power to defend the security of the state and save lives."