Dean Shmuel Elmas
Globes, July 3, 2023
“Although it seems intuitively to us that welfare leads to a reduction in terrorism, it reduces the scope of those who join terrorism, not the intensity of terrorism and its participants.”
The start of the operation in Jenin this morning by the Israel Defense Forces represents the culmination of a process taking place over the past few years in which the Palestinian Authority has been weakening in the area and the struggle over control of the West Bank after Abu Mazen has been strengthening. Hamad and Islamic Jihad have been taking advantage of the situation in the area, which is mainly agricultural, to inject millions of shekels since the start of the year to encourage terror activities.
As a rule, it is difficult to necessarily link a negative or positive economic situation with increasing or decreasing terrorist activity, all the more considering that the Palestinian Authority launched the second Intifada when its economic situation was at its peak. However, a look at Jenin shows that since the Jalama checkpoint was opened to Israeli Arabs, and the economy in Jenin flourished – terrorism in Jenin has decreased.
The Jenin refugee camp officially has about 22,000 refugees. According to UNRWA data, the organization provides basic education to 1,750 students in four local elementary schools. The Jenin refugee camp is a small part of the total 37.3 Square kilometers of the Jenin region, where 49,000 residents live.
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