Mohammad Jalab Abu Quian, who on Tuesday killed four Israelis in a terrorist attack in Beersheba, was a Bedouin Israel who supported Islamic State. While such a profile is less common among Arab Israelis and Palestinians from east Jerusalem, it is not unusual, either, and this was not the first time an ISIS sympathizer killed Jews in Israel.
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These terrorists, however, also do not fit the usual profile of a lone-wolf terrorist. Most of them are over 30, married with children, and hold respectable jobs, making them more financially secure. Many of them have become radicalized after falling under ISIS's spell on social media or in mosques.
Some have tried โ and a few have succeeded โ in carrying out our serious terrorist attack in Israel. They all volunteered to serve the murderous jihadi group and some have been able to join its ranks in Syria and Iraq before coming back to Israel, where most have been tried and sentenced.
Defense establishment data shows that the peak of ISIS activity in Israel was in 2015-2016 when over 100 ISIS sympathizers were arrested.
However, we should not be fooled by the fact that Tuesday's terrorist attack was carried out by an ISIS terrorist. There are overlapping religious and ideological influences between Hamas and Salafist extremists, despite their different practices.
The success of one attack spurs extremists in other organizations to stage similar attacks, known as copycat or inspiration attacks and this phenomenon is of great concern for the defense establishment.
Israel has experienced seven stabbing attacks over the past three weeks. This is the mark of a wave of terrorism gaining its momentum. The holy Muslim month of Ramadan and anniversaries such as the Nakba and the Naksa can further exacerbate the situation.
This is why we must be wary of again using terms like "atmosphere attacks" or "lone-wolf attack" to describe this situation.
"Atmospheric attacks" do not draw inspiration out of thin air. The atmosphere that breeds terrorists has for years been rooted in the glorification of terrorism, jihad, and violence against Jews and Israelis, wherever they are.
Waves of terrorism are not created in a vacuum and they have the tendency to evolve into full-blown intifada. This is the terrorist groups' way of employing the "reap what you sow" method, by which what is sown in terror is reaped in negotiations; and the harder you hit the Israeli home front, the less resolve we can show in negotiations.
We cannot be fooled again. We must remember that no good can come of making goodwill gestures during waves of terrorism and that there is little of any room to show consideration for sectors that breed terrorists, be they from the West Bank or the Negev.
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