It seems that yesterday's attack on Route 90 was unsurprising in its characteristics as shooting attacks go, neither in its timing nor by its operatives, even if the planning and the intention to burn the bus and its passengers was unusual. The reactions or lack of reactions on the Palestinian side are not surprising either. The attack is another chapter in the ethos of the Palestinian resistance taking shape in the spirit of Islamic Jihad in cooperation with Hamas and Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigades and all with the encouragement of Iran and Hezbollah.
The hotbed of terrorism that operated from the Jenin area under the leadership of the Islamic Jihad migrated to the Nablus area due to accumulated difficulties
vis-a-vis the Israeli security forces who operate intensively in the area, but it has not completely died out. Apparently, the perpetrators of the bus attack came from there.
The Islamic Jihad, with Iranian financial support and with the help of Iran and Hezbollah in smuggling ammunition, succeeds in recruiting many young people to carry out attacks, even if they are not associated with the organization.
It would be wrong to attribute the phenomenon or explain it as emanating from economic distress; it is about something deeper and more significant, concerning the conditions that help the active awakening of the Palestinian resistance ethos, the atmosphere and consciousness that is taking shape in the public sphere and especially among the younger generation. This is fueled by the increase in the level of violent friction with the IDF forces, a sense of success and a governmental vacuum of PA, reflected in its image in the eyes of the Palestinian public, and by the feeling of its failure to advance the Palestinian national vision and the Palestinian public towards any horizon.
The governmental vacuum which is also reflected in the preference of the security mechanisms not to act aggressively against the armed militias, except for exceptional cases of armed groups of Hamas, which threaten the PA leadership's understanding of its stability and survival, leads, among other things, to the involvement of activists from the security forces or children in terrorist attacks. The numbers are not necessarily clear and are still relatively low, but there seems to be an alarming increase, indicating the difficulty of the mechanisms' activists to act against these organizations.
The vacuum and governmental flaccidity of the PA will not be able to change under the existing conditions. The continuation of the Israeli security effort to thwart the terrorist infrastructure will inevitably lead to a further increase in the level of friction and in the number of Palestinian casualties, and Israel is taking giant steps closer to a strategic dilemma: a renewed effort for a political process, even if limited by the lack of the possibility of a permanent settlement in the foreseeable future, one that will in turn lead to the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority as a strategic alternative to the leaders of the armed resistance who are perceived by many in the Palestinian public a more worthy alternative to the Palestinian Authority, or a large-scale military move such as a "defensive shield" to crush the terrorist infrastructure that is developing throughout Samaria and spilling over to Benjamin and Judea.
In any case, Israel should make a more systematic and significant effort to thwart the smuggling of funds and ammunition, led mainly by Iran and Hezbollah, which feed the terrorist infrastructure. Both alternatives are not optimal, but the current alternative of "mowing the lawn" is facing exhaustion and may lead to a violent outbreak under more problematic conditions as far as Israel is concerned.
It seems that yesterday's attack on Route 90 was unsurprising in its characteristics as shooting attacks go, neither in its timing nor by its operatives, even if the planning and the intention to burn the bus and its passengers was unusual. The reactions or lack of reactions on the Palestinian side are not surprising either. The attack is another chapter in the ethos of the Palestinian resistance taking shape in the spirit of Islamic Jihad in cooperation with Hamas and Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigades and all with the encouragement of Iran and Hezbollah.
The hotbed of terrorism that operated from the Jenin area under the leadership of the Islamic Jihad migrated to the Nablus area due to accumulated difficulties
vis-a-vis the Israeli security forces who operate intensively in the area, but it has not completely died out. Apparently, the perpetrators of the bus attack came from there.
The Islamic Jihad, with Iranian financial support and with the help of Iran and Hezbollah in smuggling ammunition, succeeds in recruiting many young people to carry out attacks, even if they are not associated with the organization.
It would be wrong to attribute the phenomenon or explain it as emanating from economic distress; it is about something deeper and more significant, concerning the conditions that help the active awakening of the Palestinian resistance ethos, the atmosphere and consciousness that is taking shape in the public sphere and especially among the younger generation. This is fueled by the increase in the level of violent friction with the IDF forces, a sense of success and a governmental vacuum of PA, reflected in its image in the eyes of the Palestinian public, and by the feeling of its failure to advance the Palestinian national vision and the Palestinian public towards any horizon.
The governmental vacuum which is also reflected in the preference of the security mechanisms not to act aggressively against the armed militias, except for exceptional cases of armed groups of Hamas, which threaten the PA leadership's understanding of its stability and survival, leads, among other things, to the involvement of activists from the security forces or children in terrorist attacks. The numbers are not necessarily clear and are still relatively low, but there seems to be an alarming increase, indicating the difficulty of the mechanisms' activists to act against these organizations.
The vacuum and governmental flaccidity of the PA will not be able to change under the existing conditions. The continuation of the Israeli security effort to thwart the terrorist infrastructure will inevitably lead to a further increase in the level of friction and in the number of Palestinian casualties, and Israel is taking giant steps closer to a strategic dilemma: a renewed effort for a political process, even if limited by the lack of the possibility of a permanent settlement in the foreseeable future, one that will in turn lead to the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority as a strategic alternative to the leaders of the armed resistance who are perceived by many in the Palestinian public a more worthy alternative to the Palestinian Authority, or a large-scale military move such as a "defensive shield" to crush the terrorist infrastructure that is developing throughout Samaria and spilling over to Benjamin and Judea.
In any case, Israel should make a more systematic and significant effort to thwart the smuggling of funds and ammunition, led mainly by Iran and Hezbollah, which feed the terrorist infrastructure. Both alternatives are not optimal, but the current alternative of "mowing the lawn" is facing exhaustion and may lead to a violent outbreak under more problematic conditions as far as Israel is concerned.