As the war in Gaza and on the northern border continues, and amid a surge in violence in the West Bank, Israel's security establishment opened the crossing from the Gilboa region allowing tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs to visit Jenin, as was the case in the days before the war, and in recent weeks they have been pouring tens of millions of shekels into the terror capital every weekend, Ynet has learned. At the same time, the Gilboa Regional Council are dealing with a hundreds-of-percents increase in shooting attacks at Israeli communities in Gilboa since the opening of the checkpoint.
Angry and frustrated, Danny Atar, head of the Gilboa Regional Council, stood at the entrance to the Jalamah checkpoint that connects the area he is in charge of to the West Bank city of Jenin.
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anny Atar, head of the Gilboa Regional Council, stood at the entrance to the Jalamah checkpoint , which reads 'No entrance for Israelis'
(Photo: Avihu Shapira)
The sign at the entrance to the checkpoint reads: "No entry for Israelis." Atar laughed bitterly. "They should have written that entry is forbidden to Jews. Arabs are allowed to enter there," he said, explaining that "two weeks ago we were amazed to find out that in the middle of the war the security establishment decided to reopen the gate. Thousands of Israeli Arabs immediately stood there in traffic jams. They spend the weekends in Jenin and the neighboring Palestinian villages spending tens of millions of shekels on food, clothes, furniture, repairing cars and buying electrical appliances," he said.
Atar admitted that "everything there is much cheaper than in Israel," but warned that terror activity picks up when Israeli Arab money flows in the region.
"This money fuels the terrorism against us, drives the machine of sabotage activity. Since the opening of the checkpoint, the rate and intensity of shooting toward our communities has increased by hundreds of percent. They maintain observers who follow the movements of the army, measure times for the soldiers after each shooting incident and accurately study the IDF's formation times."
"What is the logic in them shooting at us and we put in tens of millions of shekels for them? It's just like bringing terrorist money into Gaza before the war. Doesn't the army understand that this money will be used for hostile activities against us," Atar added.
The IDF spokesman said in response: "The decision to open the Jalamah crossing was made in accordance with the assessment of the situation and with the recommendation of all the security agencies. Security personnel are stationed at each crossing whose job it is to check those entering and exiting."