Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat, April 19, 1999

The head of the Counter-Terrorism Task Force presented the Cabinet with statistics detailing the number of terrorist attacks and casualties that have occurred since September 1993 (Oslo I).

September-December 1993 — 62 people killed

1994 — 74 people killed

1995 — 49 people killed

1996 — 82 people killed

(mostly in four suicide attacks during February-March)

1997 — 33 people killed

1998 — 13 people killed

January-March 1999 — 1 person killed

The head of the Counter-Terrorism Task Force noted that, over time, there has been a great improvement in the professionalism and efficiency of the security forces vis-a-vis the war against terrorism. He added that the Palestinian Authority has prosecuted almost nobody for involvement in terrorist activities.

The Prime Minister said that the statistics indicate a decline of almost 80% in the number terrorist victims during the tenure of the present government, which has resulted from Israel’s bolstered action against terrorism, and from the activist policy of the security branches — acting at the instruction of the Government and in accordance with its policies.

Also contributing to the increase in internal security is the current government’s policy of reciprocity. The Palestinians are conscious of the fact that terrorist attacks will also affect them, even in the political sphere, in the wake of Israel’s response.

The Prime Minister emphasized that, in light of this, the Palestinian Authority has refrained from assisting terrorist operations and has taken specific action to combat terrorism — although they have not yet taken action against the terrorist infrastructure.

At the same time, it is impossible to guarantee that there will be no terrorist attacks in the future, because the desire of terrorist organizations to perpetrate attacks still remains unchanged. What has changed is our ability to prevent such acts from being perpetrated — as a consequence of security and political action. This is a badge of honor for the Government.

The Prime Minister offered his thanks to the GSS (security forces), the IDF (army), the Israel Police and the other security branches for their uncompromising war against terrorism.