Reuven Pedatzur addresses the issue of intelligence failures.
“…[J]ust as the American intelligence organizations failed in deciphering the developments in Iraq, the Israeli intelligence community also failed when it stated that Yasser Arafat has full control over terrorist activity by the Palestinians. That assertion was the basis for Israel’s policy in the first two years of the intifada. The conclusion was that, since Arafat was the director and activator of terrorism, and ‘controlled the height of the flames,’ the Palestinian Authority had to be attacked and brought down in ruins. Yet it’s possible that in the PA, as in Iraq, corruption caused Arafat to lose control even over the PA’s armed forces, not to mention the Islamist organizations.”
