A terrorist attack on Monday morning, in which a 34-year-old security guard was seriously wounded when a 16-year-old terrorist rammed his car into a security checkpoint at Te'enim crossing is the latest in a series of terrorist attack in the last few weeks that have raised tensions.
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This time, unlike the attack that took place in the Old City of Jerusalem on Saturday, after security personnel on duty shot and killed the terrorist, the top security brass were quick to praise them. Defense Minister Benny Gantz even put out a message praising them for their quick response.
It's possible that lessons were learned from the attack in which Avraham Elmaliach was stabbed near Damascus Gate on Saturday. People were outraged when the Border Police troops who shot the terrorist were summoned for questioning under caution. The police involved were fully backed by both their commanders and Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, but the media hullaballoo over their questioning still hasn't died down.
Either way, these two attacks, which took place in less than a three-day span, are very disturbing, as they are the latest in a recent series of terrorist attacks. Less than two weeks ago, Eliyahu Kay, 26, was murdered in the Old City of Jerusalem by an operative from Hamas' "political" wing – Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, 42, from the Shuefat refugee camp in east Jerusalem. Abu Shkhaydam was fatally shot at the scene, but not before he managed to wound four other people. A few days earlier, on Nov. 17, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed two Border Police near Damascus Gate, wounded one moderately and the other lightly.
Amid all these attacks, only the terrorist who murdered Kay was a member of a terrorist organization, but the security and defense establishment is making it clear that there is no doubt that they were all the result of ongoing incitement in the Palestinian Authority.
Immediately after the incident overnight, the defense minister said he had issued instructions for a full investigation into the attack as well as an increased level of alert at all checkpoints across Judea and Samaria. We can assume that his instructions come from the realization that past experience has shown us that a spate of attacks can inspire additional terrorists, and that "successful" terrorist actions inspire copycats. But despite all this, at least as of Tuesday, the IDF has not deployed extra forces to Judea and Samaria or taken any other action to step up alert there.
On the strategic level, the biggest concern about a wave of terrorism in Judea and Samaria actually stems from the herculean efforts by Hamas in Gaza to perpetrate attacks in Judea, Samaria, and over the Green Line. Hamas wants to keep things quiet in Gaza while lighting up the West Bank. Only recently, security forces exposed a plot that was directed from the Gaza Strip and which entailed bombing attacks and abductions.
Another reason for the tension in Judea and Samaria is the PA's lack of governability there, which is leading to anarchy on the ground. The latest series of attacks could indicate frustration among the Palestinian public over the rough economic situation in the PA, which is always fertile ground for the seeds of terrorist activity.
Either way, last night's attack was apparently carried out by an unaffiliated terrorist. Initial reports say that that attacker took his father's car, without permission, after the two argued and drove it into the Te'enim checkpoint. The characteristics of an attack like this one, in which a lone terrorist acts on his own accord, make work difficult for Israel's intelligence branches as well as complicating deterrence.
As of now, the security and defense apparatus does not think that Israel is facing a new wave of terrorist violence, but ultimately, the results will be determined by two factors: the first is the copycat effect, and the number of Palestinians – whether they act alone or are members of Hamas – opt to mimic the recent attacks; and the second, of course, is the intelligence that the Shin Bet security agency supplies and how security forces respond to it.
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