Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said Wednesday that the current terror wave in Judea and Samaria will persist for years, with casualties every year. He argued against imposing closures on Palestinian workers, calling their continued entry into Israel a vital Israeli interest that serves as a moderating factor and provides hope, and warned that a closure would harm Israeli interests.
Former IDF Chief of Staff and current War Cabinet observer Gadi Eisenkot on Wednesday provided a rare, on-record assessment of the long-term security outlook in Judea and Samaria. In remarks quoted by reports, Eisenkot stated flatly that the current wave of Palestinian terror "will continue for many years" and that each year brings fatalities and casualties. His assessment stands in contrast to the more operational framing often used by current defense officials, who tend to emphasize tactical gains and arrest operations.
Eisenkot devoted much of his statement to the question of Israeli policy toward Palestinian civilians. He argued forcefully against any closure or ban on Palestinian workers entering Israel, calling their continued entry a "vital Israeli interest" that serves as a "moderating factor" and gives the Palestinian population economic hope. He warned that imposing a closure "would be a grave mistake" and would work against Israeli interests.
His remarks add a senior voice to an ongoing internal Israeli debate: whether the security logic of separation and closures outweighs the economic and diplomatic logic of maintaining ties with the Palestinian Authority and civilian population. Eisenkot's position — that the terror wave is a structural reality to be managed through targeted operations and restraint, not a crisis to be resolved by collective punishment — carries weight given his experience managing the Second Intifada and subsequent campaigns.
The Zioneer has previously covered Defense Minister Katz's indefinite-security-zone framework and the broader debate over IDF operational policy in the territories. Eisenkot's comments, while not a policy announcement, represent the most senior public articulation to date of the maintain-civilian-ties school within the security establishment.
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