The new phenomenon – a series of shooting attacks by individuals, in the heart of cities in Israel – evokes a sense of success among Palestinian terrorists, mainly due to the embarrassment these events cause Israel. A senior Hamas official who responded to the attack in Tel Aviv said that "the armed actions in the heart of Tel Aviv illustrate the infiltration of the resistance into the Israeli security system." Islamic Jihad praised the terrorist who waged a shooting attack in the heart of Tel Aviv for "one of the most powerful resistance operations that shocked Israel and exposed its fragility at its core – Tel Aviv." The organization also called for more “guerrilla operations,” and to see the "shahid" from the attack as a role model. Hezbollah also joined in the celebratory greetings, claiming the Palestinian resistance is proving its ability to confront Israel and respond to its crimes in a place it did not expect – in its own territory. The organization also insisted that the attack exposed Israel's weakness and confusion among security bodies.
We are in the midst of a murderous terror campaign, whose main orchestrator is Hamas in close coordination with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (four coordination meetings have recently taken place in Beirut between Salah al-Aruri – in charge of Hamas' military wing operations in the West Bank, and Ziyad a-Nahala – General Secretary of Islamic Jihad). The purpose of this campaign is to unite the fronts of the Palestinian struggle against Israel into a comprehensive arena and encompass the activities of the various factions. At the same time, this deployment aims to increase and accelerate the undermining of Palestinian Authority control over the West Bank, as is evident in the Jenin area, which is controlled by terrorist elements.
In recent months, Hamas has run an intensive incitement campaign, especially in advance of Ramadan – a time when religious and national sentiments are heightened – targeting Palestinian youth and adults alike, those unaffiliated or regardless of their organizational affiliation. The campaign encourages self-sacrifice in the name of a sublime religious-national goal, and it is supposed to be the first in a three-stage escalation: the first one, shooting attacks by individuals in Israeli cities, has so far been noticeably successful. The second involves ignitng Jerusalem and the West Bank following the success of the attacks and due to Israel's harsh response measures. In every statement, and especially in response to a successful attack, Hamas calls for an escalation of the struggle against Israel throughout the West Bank, but so far the plan has failed to expand "resistance" from individual attacks to a violent popular uprising in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The third is conditional on the success of the second phase and on Israel's response – widespread escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem will give Hamas legitimacy to provoke a confrontation with Israel, through rocket and missile launches from the Gaza Strip.
Jerusalem is the most sensitive front. Preventing terrorism and riots across the city will calm the other fronts and frustrate the escalation framework formulated by Hamas. If Hamas initiates escalation in the Gaza Strip before the events expand to Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority, it will find it difficult to explain to the Gaza public why it inviting major damage, disrupting reconstruction efforts to improve the fabric of life in the region, and halting the expansion of Israeli work permits. Thus, the Gaza Strip will not burn without burning in Jerusalem.
We tend to count only the attacks that have breached the Israeli wall of defense, and not the many that were foiled. Indeed, there has been a recent series of terrorist attacks, accompanied by an increased Hamas incitement effort. Hence the loss of a sense of security that has arisen in recent weeks among the Israeli public. Israel, for its part, is pursuing policies and actions designed to disrupt the Hamas plan. The government is acting wisely as it seeks to separate the Palestinian population in the West Bank from the terrorists in its midst and allow the Palestinian public as much of a routine as possible, including adhering to the intention of providing relief during Ramadan. In addition, the government seeks to differentiate between the various terrorist fronts, and in particular refrains from emphasizing an affinity between Hamas and the West Bank and terrorist elements among the Arab citizens of Israel. Israel should focus on thwarting Hamas' plan to expand the conflict from individual shootings to a multi-front, multi-organizational campaign.
The new phenomenon – a series of shooting attacks by individuals, in the heart of cities in Israel – evokes a sense of success among Palestinian terrorists, mainly due to the embarrassment these events cause Israel. A senior Hamas official who responded to the attack in Tel Aviv said that "the armed actions in the heart of Tel Aviv illustrate the infiltration of the resistance into the Israeli security system." Islamic Jihad praised the terrorist who waged a shooting attack in the heart of Tel Aviv for "one of the most powerful resistance operations that shocked Israel and exposed its fragility at its core – Tel Aviv." The organization also called for more “guerrilla operations,” and to see the "shahid" from the attack as a role model. Hezbollah also joined in the celebratory greetings, claiming the Palestinian resistance is proving its ability to confront Israel and respond to its crimes in a place it did not expect – in its own territory. The organization also insisted that the attack exposed Israel's weakness and confusion among security bodies.
We are in the midst of a murderous terror campaign, whose main orchestrator is Hamas in close coordination with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (four coordination meetings have recently taken place in Beirut between Salah al-Aruri – in charge of Hamas' military wing operations in the West Bank, and Ziyad a-Nahala – General Secretary of Islamic Jihad). The purpose of this campaign is to unite the fronts of the Palestinian struggle against Israel into a comprehensive arena and encompass the activities of the various factions. At the same time, this deployment aims to increase and accelerate the undermining of Palestinian Authority control over the West Bank, as is evident in the Jenin area, which is controlled by terrorist elements.
In recent months, Hamas has run an intensive incitement campaign, especially in advance of Ramadan – a time when religious and national sentiments are heightened – targeting Palestinian youth and adults alike, those unaffiliated or regardless of their organizational affiliation. The campaign encourages self-sacrifice in the name of a sublime religious-national goal, and it is supposed to be the first in a three-stage escalation: the first one, shooting attacks by individuals in Israeli cities, has so far been noticeably successful. The second involves ignitng Jerusalem and the West Bank following the success of the attacks and due to Israel's harsh response measures. In every statement, and especially in response to a successful attack, Hamas calls for an escalation of the struggle against Israel throughout the West Bank, but so far the plan has failed to expand "resistance" from individual attacks to a violent popular uprising in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The third is conditional on the success of the second phase and on Israel's response – widespread escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem will give Hamas legitimacy to provoke a confrontation with Israel, through rocket and missile launches from the Gaza Strip.
Jerusalem is the most sensitive front. Preventing terrorism and riots across the city will calm the other fronts and frustrate the escalation framework formulated by Hamas. If Hamas initiates escalation in the Gaza Strip before the events expand to Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority, it will find it difficult to explain to the Gaza public why it inviting major damage, disrupting reconstruction efforts to improve the fabric of life in the region, and halting the expansion of Israeli work permits. Thus, the Gaza Strip will not burn without burning in Jerusalem.
We tend to count only the attacks that have breached the Israeli wall of defense, and not the many that were foiled. Indeed, there has been a recent series of terrorist attacks, accompanied by an increased Hamas incitement effort. Hence the loss of a sense of security that has arisen in recent weeks among the Israeli public. Israel, for its part, is pursuing policies and actions designed to disrupt the Hamas plan. The government is acting wisely as it seeks to separate the Palestinian population in the West Bank from the terrorists in its midst and allow the Palestinian public as much of a routine as possible, including adhering to the intention of providing relief during Ramadan. In addition, the government seeks to differentiate between the various terrorist fronts, and in particular refrains from emphasizing an affinity between Hamas and the West Bank and terrorist elements among the Arab citizens of Israel. Israel should focus on thwarting Hamas' plan to expand the conflict from individual shootings to a multi-front, multi-organizational campaign.