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Things are slowly but surely getting worse.
Another day and so far there have been three stabbing attacks in Jerusalem—two successful and a third in which the attacker was killed before he could inflict injury—and one failed attempt in Tel Aviv.
It has become all too routine. Israelis no longer care whether this is or is not a Third Intifada. It is irrelevant, since the reality is that the sense of personal security Israelis felt until recently is gone. The Tel Aviv bubble—if there ever really was one—ended on October 8, when a terror attack took place in the middle of the city.
The only question on everybody's minds: How will this end? Most people are pessimistic and believe the current wave of violence won't end anytime soon.
Until recently, I would always have to be the one to initiate political conversations with friends and acquaintances. No longer. Last night I got into a cab and the first thing the cabbie (who had no idea who I was) asked was what do I think of the current situation.
Friends are worried. Everyone I know believes this situation may last for a long time. On the night of October 11—when one of the stabbings, near Kibbutz Gan Shmuel in central Israel, was carried out by someone identified as an Arab-Israeli—there was a real fear the circumstances would get totally out of hand.
Later, it became clear that the attacker was originally a West Bank resident who was allowed to live in Israel due to the "law of unification" (i.e., his father had married an Israeli-Arab woman). The mayor of Umm al-Fahm, the town in which the assailant was living, was quick to condemn the attack. Furthermore, the mayor highlighted the fact that the attacker was from the West Bank and not from his town.
Earlier in the day, the mayor of Nazareth, the largest Arab town in Israel, verbally attacked MK Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint Arab List, for fomenting unrest and setting back Arab-Jewish relations for a generation. Members of the Arab List have been holding demonstrations and calling for a strike, often referring to the canard that Israel has plans to change the status quo regarding the Temple Mount.
When asked on TV whether they actually believed that fabrication, the Arab members of Knesset avoided directly answering the question and refused to say that a change is unlikely. Last night, MK Odeh condemned the attack near Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, realizing the damage it will cause to the community he represents.
On the night of October 8, I attended a conclave at the home of Israeli President Reuven "Ruby" Rivlin focused on how to better integrate Arab-Israelis into the economy. At the reception before the meeting, I spoke to many of the attendees, Arab-Israeli businessmen, along with some of the leaders of Israeli industry.
There was clearly the sense of an elephant in the room. President Rivlin addressed that elephant in his opening remarks, stating that, despite what was going on outside, we have to be ever more determined to achieve our goals. Afterward, a number of presentations were given, many of which highlighted the obstacles Arab professionals face obtaining work. After the events of the last few days, I fear these challenges will become worse.
As the stabbings and attempted stabbings go on day after day, Israel has been implementing what one can only describe as a clear policy of shooting to kill anyone who attacks with a knife. Almost every one of the attackers has been neutralized with deadly force. For years, some Israeli politicians have been calling for the institution of the death penalty for terrorists. So far, the prospect of death does not appear to have deterred any of the attackers.
Polls here show a rise in support for the politicians who call for taking stronger action against the Arabs, such as MK Avigdor Lieberman and Minister of Education Naftali Bennett. These same polls show the popularity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plummeting.
More than anything else, these polls and my conversations with people on the street show a certain level of despair—not on a personal level but in the sense that there is no solution.
It is clear that most Israelis believe that if the creation of a Palestinian state, roughly on the 1967 borders, would end all hostilities forever, they would gladly agree to such an arrangement. However, most Israelis do not believe a permanent end of conflict would be the likely result. Rather, they fear the results of returning more land would be the same as the outcome after our withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza—i.e., a new violent neighbor on our border who does not want to live in peace. The fact that Arab-Israelis have joined the latest round of violence does not bode well.
Will this wave of attacks end soon? Will Hamas join in in Gaza and begin firing rockets into Israel? The Israeli press is full of predictions by various "experts," but nobody really knows.
Two months ago, Israel was preoccupied by the theoretical threat that Iran might pose in the future. Today, most Israelis just want to make sure they and their loved ones come home safely every night.
Marc Schulman is the editor of historycentral.com.