Canada’s little-known key role in the ‘other’ Israeli-Palestinian war

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It’s been called the other Palestinian-Israeli war. As the world focused on the Gaza conflict over the last year, violence has wracked the West Bank, too.

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Tensions are at a level not seen in the territory for two decades because of deadly Israeli raids targeting terror groups, Palestinian extremist violence, and attacks by Israeli settlers on Arab residents.

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Unbeknownst to most of Canada, a Canadian military operation has been in the thick of it all.

Operation Proteus has for almost 20 years worked to professionalize the West Bank’s Palestinian security forces, the goal to head off threats to Israel and make Palestinians safer, too. And despite recent fighting, the Canadians continue to help lower the temperature, argues Lieut-Gen. Frédéric Pruneau, who heads Op Proteus.

“As hard as it is, it is very gratifying,” Pruneau said about his mission in a recent interview. “Even in the most dire moments, we’re still able to deliver a program that can make Canadians proud.”

That said, the last 14 months have been taxing for the program, as longstanding troubles have come to a head.

A string of incursions by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) into the heart of the territory to target fighters from Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad and other terror groups has also killed Palestinian civilians and destroyed homes and other buildings. Meanwhile, residents of Israeli settlements in the West Bank have repeatedly attacked Palestinians.

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In all those cases, the Palestinian security officers being trained and organized by the Canadians suffered in the court of public opinion.

“They see that the Israelis can operate freely in the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces can’t do anything about it … ‘What are you doing for me when the Israelis are coming to my home and destroying my home?’ ” said Pruneau.

“The Israeli actions are detrimental to the credibility of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) from the point of view of the population … It’s one of the major impediments.”

The Israeli military defends its actions in the territory, which it said are aimed at preventing extremist violence.

“The mission of the IDF is to maintain the security of all residents of the area, and to act to prevent terrorism and activities that endanger the citizens of the State of Israel,” the IDF told the National Post by email.

Meanwhile, some Israelis have raised their own fears about the Palestinian security operation, suggesting it could be turned against Israel itself.

But Pruneau said his team of 30 Canadians – made up mostly of Armed Forces members but also a civilian government official, RCMP officers and two Peel Regional Police members – has played a significant part in calming the tense situation.

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Acting sometimes as a go-between, the group has helped to repair the frayed ties between the Palestinian and Israeli forces, said the youthful-looking Pruneau.

They’ve brought the Israelis’ attention to cases of settler violence, encouraged Israeli authorities to let more security equipment into the West Bank and even arranged firearms training in Jordan when Israel barred shipments of ammunition, he said.

“It’s been severe in the past year but it’s getting better,” said Pruneau. “We’ve enabled that reconnection (between Israelis and Palestinians) and I think this is something that we can be proud of.”

He also said that the Israeli officials his team deals with are committed to the peace process, despite talk among some of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies – and the potential next U.S. ambassador – of Israel annexing the West Bank.

Op Proteus may be virtually unknown to residents of Canada. But for almost two decades it has been Canada’s contribution to the United States Security Co-ordinator program, set up in 2005 under the Oslo peace accords. The idea is to bring order and professionalism to the Palestinian Authority’s police and quasi-military forces and in the process help stabilize the West Bank and lessen the threat of terrorism against Israel. The program was launched after the Second Intifada, when more than 600 Israelis died at the hands of Palestinian terrorists.

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The Palestinian security system now includes police, civil-defence officials, a presidential guard and a National Security Force that is the territory’s closest thing to an army. The Canadians have provided communications gear, munitions and other equipment, delivered training and helped strengthen administration of the security apparatus, alongside the U.S. and other countries.

The underlying goal is to encourage peace in the region and push the needle closer to the long-sought-after two-state solution.

That objective was already withering by the fall of last year. Then Hamas fighters crossed the border from the Gaza strip on Oct. 7, 2023, murdering 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis and taking 250 hostages. The Israeli invasion of Gaza that followed has caused tens of thousands of deaths of combatants and civilians and destroyed vast swaths of the area.

At the same time, the conflict spilled over to the West Bank, where Hamas and other groups have grown in strength among a population angry at the bloodshed in Gaza.

The Israelis have targeted some of those groups in a series of raids, arguing they are financed and equipped by Iran, but faced criticism over the deaths of civilians and destruction of homes and other structures.

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Under the Oslo accords, the West Bank is divided into three areas. Area A is supposed to be under the exclusive control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), but Israeli soldiers regularly operate there and when they do, Palestinian security cannot intervene.

Meanwhile, those Palestinian forces are also expected to combat local fighters, like last August when they detonated an improvised explosive device aimed at Israeli soldiers, drawing condemnation from Hamas. And they are perceived as helping prop up the unelected PA by repressing its critics, said the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA) in a recent report.

“All of this adds to the PASF’s image as a mere subcontractor or even ‘collaborator’ in maintaining the military occupation,” said the report. “The PASF’s involvement in restricting civil liberties … and cracking down on dissents as well as their security cooperation with Israel has drawn much criticism and undermined their legitimacy.”

PASSIA’s report concedes that, even so, co-ordination between Palestinian and Israeli security is considered the “greatest success story” recently in the conflict. But the credibility of the operation would rise – and Israel would benefit from better security – if Israeli police and military stopped raids in Area A, responded better to settler violence and allowed Palestinian security people to circulate more freely, the report said.

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Pruneau, whose team consults with the think tank regularly, said he agrees with its suggestions.

Meanwhile, the Canadians use their Palestinian contacts to warn the Israelis about settler violence in Palestinian villages and refugee camps, which have resulted in numerous deaths, and sanctions against settlement activists by Canada, the European Union and the U.S.

“Most of the time, the IDF will send a response and the violence will dissipate,” said Pruneau. “There are instances where this response is ineffective.”

The IDF told the Post that Israeli forces are required to intervene if they encounter settlers being violent to Palestinians or otherwise breaking the law. When soldiers ignore this duty, “the incidents are thoroughly reviewed and disciplinary actions are implemented accordingly. “

Pruneau said the Canadians have helped foster better ties between the Israelis and the Palestinian security recently. But when the two sides struck a new agreement in September, some Knesset members, part of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, complained that the PA “cannot be trusted to keep us safe as it finances and supports terrorism.” Some security-force members did in fact turn their weapons on Israelis during the Second Intifada two decades ago, before Canada, the U.S. and other countries got involved to professionalize the outfits.

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Pruneau rejects the Knesset members’ criticism, noting that personnel in the Palestinian forces are now vetted by both Israel and the United States and their activities are all well known to the Netanyahu government.

The politicians’ warning is “more rhetoric than reality,” he said.

Despite the challenges of the last year, Pruneau is convinced Operation Proteus is making a positive difference in the seemingly intractable conflict.

“With everything that’s going on, we see that the West Bank is still a relatively stable place,” he said. And “the Palestinian Authority Security Forces are directly contributing to that stability.”

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