The Israel Security Agency (ISA) has just released a report summarizing its activities in 2020.
The ISA is perhaps best known by its Hebrew acronym, Shin Bet; while others often refer to it as the General Security Service (GSS).
The document shows that the ISA prevented 430 “significant terror attacks” in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria over the past year. The attempted attacks include 283 shootings, 70 stabbings, 10 vehicle rammings, 62 bombings and 5 abductions.
By contrast, there were 564 foiled attacks in 2019, 581 in 2018 and 418 in 2017.
Unfortunately, 56 terror attacks were executed in the West Bank and Jerusalem last year. There has been a steady downward trend of attacks, witnessed by 59 in 2019, 67 in 2018, 63 in 2017 and 119 in 2016.
3 three Israelis were killed and 46 others wounded in Palestinian terror attacks in 2020. Review of previous years shows that 10 were killed and 66 wounded in 2019, 16 killed and 83 wounded in 2018, 18 killed and 153 wounded in 2017, and 17 people killed and 177 wounded in 2016.
July and November were the only months last year marked by an absence of Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis.
The month stricken by the highest number of attacks in 2020 was February (16), followed by August (6, with 1 death), March (5), September (5), April (4), January (3), June (3) October (2), December (1, 1 death) and May (1, 1 death).
After being tasked by the government to utilize its advance technology to track people infected with the coronavirus, the ISA stated that it had successfully identified 90,000 such carriers in 2020.
Click here to read the entire ISA 2020 summary report (in Hebrew).
— By Erin Viner