Many arguments have been made about this current wave of attacks, that it is the result of crime that escalated into terror, that Islamic State representatives are in Israel, and that this terrorism has no name or address. It is only the term "Palestinian terror" that has disappeared from the discourse. When the government is not interested in backing off its promises to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II, and even US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, every term and statistic must be used to cut what is happening off from the broader diplomatic story. Just as, for over a decade, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tenure was the quietest from a security perspective, so too have the most difficult periods of Palestinian terror taken place against a weak diplomatic background. We saw such violence, which would later develop into the Second Intifada, during the terrible days of the Oslo Accords and under former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
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Yet the more Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's spokespeople attempted to explain to the media that terrorism has always been here and has nothing to do with the security situation and that the current wave was just the newest and inevitable and uncontrollable variant of the coronavirus, the more reality rebelled against their claims. Last week in particular made clear the connection between the diplomatic and strategic arenas.
When Blinken left for the Negev summit, the US State Department released two statements that day. The first concerned Blinken's Israel visit and the important bilateral alliance. The second, which was not covered by the media, concerned the Palestinians. Blinken did not just reiterate his commitment to the two-state solution but rather announced the US would transfer half a billion dollars to Palestinian organizations, $417 million of which would go toward the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, that same organization for the perpetuation of the refugee problem that is involved in incitement to terrorism and violence, including the concealment of missiles in its buildings. This promotional trailer merged with the diplomatic failure of the summit: the paradigm of the Abraham Accords has been turned on its head, and the Palestinian conflict has returned to the center of discourse.
Just like with the mistaken concept of the Oslo Accords, the diplomatic rationale is now to let someone else worry about our security. At that time, they brought in Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat's gangs and armed them with weapons to "maintain peace." Now, they expect Abbas and Abdullah to defend us. In return, government representatives promise financial loans to the PA, with the knowledge Abbas is continuing to financially support the families of terrorists and those from Israel in particular. In addition, the pilgrimages to Jordan, which include guarantees of extensive easing of restrictions during Ramadan including no age limits on worshippers and the addition of Wakf guards at the Temple Mount, continue apace. This same Wakf was found last week to have been involved in Hamas operations in Jerusalem. Finally, the government has remained silent in the face of Blinken's calls to prevent violence "on both sides" during Ramadan and Passover.
Bennett attempted to conceal this tragic diplomatic reality in press conferences over the weekend. On one hand, they wrote: "Forty-seven people were murdered in the [so-called] knife intifada under Netanyahu" without explaining that the painful statistic was spread out over 16 months. Nor did they note that beginning in 2009 and throughout Netanyahu's time in power, 134 people fell victim to terror. A terrible comparison no doubt. But the truth must be told. On the other hand, journalists were called to take the weak public to task for failing to "deal" with the events. Either way, whether through false briefings or the demands for indifference, their goal is to disconnect the security situation from the current political reality.
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