In Israel in the past two weeks, acts of terror have left eleven dead, while security services foiled additional attacks. On Friday, border police raided a West Bank terrorist cell, resulting in a shoot-out that left three Palestinian gunmen dead and an Israeli officer severely wounded. The weekend saw Arabs riot in Jerusalem’s Old City. Yossi Kuperwasser seeks out the reasons for this escalation of violence, and notes several features that distinguish it from previous outbreaks: the involvement of Arab Israelis, the attackers’ affiliation with Islamic State (IS), and the fact that, unlike much terrorism of the past few years, most of the attacks have taken place within the pre-1967 borders.
The Israeli government and the security services wanted to believe . . . that by improving the economic situation in the Palestinian Authority’s areas and Gaza, they could gain at least temporary quiet and muddle through the sensitive period of the religious and nationalist holidays in April and May. They believed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would fight terror in the areas under its control, and Hamas would preserve calm and restrain the other factions in Gaza. Pouring money into the Israeli-Arab society was also considered a way of bolstering their interest in integrating into Israeli society and keeping them away from violent and criminal activities. Although these assumptions may be correct, they miss the point.
The PA and Hamas, as well as elements of the pragmatic leadership of the Israeli Arabs, may take advantage of the economic gestures and deliver what is expected of them, but they are not in full control of the terror threats. In addition, more disturbingly, the PA and Hamas continue to stoke terror and hatred, and Hamas calls for terror from the areas not under its control, including by Arabs in Judea and Samaria and within Israel.
The Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas is responsible for much of the incitement, in part through his insistence on paying salaries to arrested terrorists and monthly stipends to the families of killed terrorists. His expenditures will now include payments to the families of the terrorists killed in the latest attacks and confrontations with the security forces, and to arrested terrorists. Yet, Abbas avoided any reference to the first and second attacks, and only under Israeli and American pressure did he issue a very feeble condemnation of the third. Meanwhile, the Fatah movement, which he leads, and its terror arm, the al-Aqsa Brigades, praised the attacks.
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: https://jcpa.org/article/the-current-terror-wave-in-israel-main-characteristics-and-implications/