“Despite the fact that peace negotiations aren’t likely to restart, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel are all interested in getting rid of anything that could threat stability in the region. And so, while the Middle East continues burning (Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon and others), and on Nday that was once considered highly likely to draw violent confrontations in the Palestinian territories, the Shin Bet and prisoner’s leadership managed to reach a deal that essentially had many winners and few losers.

The Shin Bet has emphasized their significant “achievement” in the deal: having the Palestinian prisoners sign that they will not return to terrorist activities within the prison walls. One does not need to be a security analyst to understand that despite the deal, at least some of them will repeatedly engage in terrorist activity.

Their real achievement lies elswhere: the fact they could neutralize the ticking bomb of 1,500 hunger-striking prisoners. It is true that the majority of the Palestinian public has remained apathetic and that the West Bank has not seen tens of thousands of people taking to the streets, protesting in solidarity with the hunger strikers. Nevertheless, the combination of “Nakba Day” with the hunger strike that symbolized the Palestinian struggle – and included some who had already reached a state of poor health – was likely to lead to a political explosion, especially if one of them was to die in prison.”

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