"The 10 quiet years are behind us" - Israel editorial
An editorial from the Israeli news website, Ynet, raises some interesting questions, criticizing the Israeli authorities for scapegoating Abbas and for not coming down hard enough on right-wing Jewish groups.
The piece also calls Netanyahu out for blaming the synagogue attack on incitement instead of on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A third intifada?
From one isolated incident to another isolated incident, we've got ourselves an intifada on our hands, which is threatening to be as fatal as the two previous ones. Fatal both for us and for them: There are no winners in this affair – only victims.
On Palestinians celebrating the Synagogue attack:
We cannot accept the cries of joy in Gaza and in some of the West Bank cities. Those rejoicing in such a massacre lose their moral right to cry about the occupation. The Palestinians have had many joys in 100 years of conflict, and each one of them further deepened their tragedy.
On right-wing extremist Jewish groups:
Surveillance of extreme Jewish people and groups must also be expanded. According to past experience, when the government restrains itself, out of choice or due to constraints, the Jewish terrorists jump into the fire. Only a week ago they torched a mosque in a small village east of Ramallah. The price tag for the synagogue massacre could be much higher.
On Netanyahu blaming Abbas:
Israel's ministers would be wise to leave Abbas alone. Claiming that the two villains from Jabel Mukaber went out to murder because they heard Abbas give an inciting speech is like claiming that the "price tag" criminals went out to desecrate a mosque because they heard Netanyahu give an inciting speech. The Palestinian terrorists disregard Abbas just like the Jewish inflamers disregard Netanyahu.
On whether "incitement" is to blame:
Netanyahu reiterated that "the incitement is the root of the conflict." The incitement, indeed, inflames the hatred, but it is an outcome of the conflict, not the reason for its existence. Only a naïve person would believe that ending the incitement would end the conflict: There is a land here which both sides are finding it difficult to share, historic, religious, ethnic and national animosity. This bleeding conflict deserves some respect: Ending it with incitement belittles it.
Is this a holy war?
The fourth, and perhaps main point, is that the shift from a national conflict to a religious war has been in the air for quite a while. IDF, Shin Bet and police officials have been warning about it repeatedly. Leave God alone, they said, both our god and their god. Don't get religion involved. A thousand firefighters are incapable of putting out a fire with God at its center.