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Israeli-Palestinian Security Cooperation Continues
(Al-Monitor) Ben Caspit - To the Israel Defense Forces, it is not at all clear that we are in the midst of a third intifada. "We are constantly checking out the situation on the ground,'' a high-ranking military source in the West Bank said on Nov. 12. ''At this stage...there is a rise in the number of incidents, but all the stabilizing forces are still present with no small amount of influence....We aren't there yet." On Tuesday, "the Palestinians commemorated 10 years since the death of Yasser Arafat. In the course of the day, we counted 36 incidents that took place in Judea-Samaria. All in all, a thousand Palestinians participated. This is a small number, even negligible. We don't see the masses out in the streets; this is not an uprising." "Hamas, from a distance, is trying to set the West Bank on fire and individuals are carrying out terror attacks, but...there is no organized terror infrastructure in the territories." Abbas' security apparatuses continue to avert terror and cooperation with Israel continues as usual. "Terror operatives continue to be arrested and interrogated, while the number of arrests is either on an upward trend or remains stable. Security coordination with Israel continues to be sacred." Additional stabilizing forces include the financial situation, Israeli deterrence and Israel's policy of restrained use of force. "Your average Palestinian knows what's happening around him. He keeps track of what is happening in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq...Egypt. He knows that compared to all these regions, he's in a better place."