By: Yoav Limor/ Israel Today      (Adapted)
      Even though Israel did not bear responsibility for the assassination of Tamer Al-Kilani in Nablus yesterday, but one does not need to be an expert in terrorism to guess who had the desire and ability to carry out such an operation. Al-Kilani was a ticking bomb, and Israel tried to arrest him several times in recent months, and the Palestinian Authority demanded action against him, but they were afraid or did not succeed.

      The assassination of Al-Kilina indicates several things. First, Israel decided to change the policy – by assassinating the resistance fighters and not just arresting them. Second, Israel is interested in refraining as much as possible from inflicting casualties among its soldiers. Third, Israel wants to allow the Palestinian Authority to regain its control in the area of Nablus, as it is an economic and civil center, and its downfall would resound in all regions and shake the stability of the Palestinian Authority.

      All these things, alongside the desire not to head to a large-scale military campaign on the elections’ days, led to the decision of returning to the old way of central qualifiers. However, this success attributed to Israel is not allowed to be the only method of action in the future, as it is necessary to diversify the possibilities of work in order to ensure a bigger achievement. Israel is obligated to continue to operate in the manner of land entry into the region.

      Deterrence has been achieved because of the surprising method of operating chosen, but Israel must ensure that the element of surprise – and operational intelligence superiority – will continue in the future as well.