Since yesterday (Wednesday), the security establishment has been conducting a parallel effort in the Palestinian arena: the first, to locate and destroy the sabotage laboratory, where the explosives that exploded in Jerusalem were manufactured.
The second, to bring back the body of Tiran Pero, which is being held in Jenin.
The main effort is naturally directed towards the organization that carried out the attacks in Jerusalem.
The working assumption is that its members are encouraged by their "success", and will try to carry out additional attacks along the same lines in the near future.
Documentation from the security cameras: the moment of the explosion at the bus station at the entrance to Jerusalem
Therefore, alongside the reinforcement of forces carried out in Jerusalem to arrest suspects and create deterrence, the arrest or elimination of the members of this organization was set as the main goal, at the same time as locating and destroying the laboratory where the charges were made - in order to seize additional charges that had already been made and prevent the preparation of more.
The investigation shows that the charges were relatively simple to prepare, and they were activated by remote control in order to allow the squad that planted them to escape from the scene.
It is estimated that the terrorists came from a geographical area close to the scene of the attack, but it has not yet been determined whether they acted independently or belonged to some institutional organization.
not to create a precedent.
Lapid, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
This is a fundamental issue, because activity on behalf of a terrorist organization may have extensive consequences.
Thus, the arrests of senior Islamic Jihad officials in northern Samaria last summer led to the "Dawn" operation against the organization's top brass in Gaza, and the kidnapping of the three boys in 2014 led to the "Solid Cliff" operation against Hamas in Gaza.
If it turns out that the members of the organization had ties to Tanzim or the security mechanisms of the Palestinian Authority - as has happened in several recent attacks - Israel will be in an even more complex dilemma, which will force it to confront the Palestinian Authority and motivate it to act more significantly against the terrorism that emanates from its territory.
Hundreds of failures.
Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, photo: Yossi Zeliger
cut off from the area
As expected, demands were heard yesterday from various parties to respond to the attack with a large-scale military operation in the Yosh. This is a constant call that is heard after every attack, but it lacks traction on the ground. Even today, the Shin Bet and the IDF are working freely against every shred of information; since the beginning of the year 330 shooting attacks, 54 stabbing attacks, 34 bomb attacks, 5 trampling attacks, 3 kidnapping attacks and two organized attacks were thwarted.
Even the attacks themselves should be put in proportion, despite the heavy price.
This is not a return to the serial suicide attacks of the second intifada that claimed hundreds of victims.
In fact, this is only the third time since 2011 that the terrorist organizations have succeeded in setting off explosive devices in Jerusalem (in 2011 an explosive device exploded in the nation's buildings, and in 2016 on the Hebron road).
This indicates the gap between the number of attempts and the degree of motivation to carry out attacks and their actual success, when the delta between these two variables is Israel's success.
And yet, these attacks may oblige Israel to weigh its hand also on the civilian population that is not involved in terrorism.
The security system has so far made an effort to differentiate between the pressure exerted on the terrorists, and the routine of life that is possible for the rest of the population.
All information is leveraged.
Head of the Shin Bet Ronan Bar, photo: Mark Israel Salem
Exceptions to this were made only when certain sectors carried out an unusual number of terrorist attacks, such as the activity of the organization "Gov Aryot" in Nablus.
Israel then imposed a de facto closure on the city and allowed exit and entry to it only under strict inspection, until this organization was thwarted.
Janine is not Gaza
A similar situation has been going on since yesterday also in Jenin, when following the kidnapping of the body of the young Tiran Pero, the Salem crossing was closed.
This is a difficult economic blow for the Jenin governorate, where many Israeli Arabs come from the north for trade and shopping purposes.
This move is indeed explained by security needs, but it also has other goals - practical and deterrent - the main of which is to lead to pressure on the terrorist operatives who hold the body to return it to Israel, in order to release the stranglehold on the city.
The incident in Jenin raises two immediate issues that require clarification.
One concerns the entry of Israelis into Area A. For Jews this is forbidden and dangerous, while Israeli Arabs do so freely.
Janine is not Gaza.
The strip, archive, photo: Reuters
Druze are more of a "grey area", given their service in the army and their loyalty to the state.
It is surprising that even at the height of the wave of terrorism this should be mentioned, but entering the Palestinian territory is dangerous and irresponsible, and Israel should punish those who do so in order to deter and save others.
The second issue concerns the return of the body.
A variety of local and international parties are involved in the efforts to do this, including representatives of the United Nations, the Red Cross and others. The preference is of course to return the body in quiet ways, in order to end the affair as soon as possible.
If this is not done, Israel must obtain intelligence on the whereabouts of the body, and return it by force.
Peru's relatives did ask yesterday not to endanger soldiers in order to do so, but this could be a dangerous precedent: Jenin is not Gaza, and God forbid that Israel gets into a situation where the terrorist organizations start kidnapping and storing the bodies of Israelis for bargaining purposes.
Therefore, this is a case where it is necessary to act decisively, so that it does not happen again in the future.
These two events take place during a period of change of government, which is already complex.
It is recommended to anyone who sees himself as a factor with a minimum of responsibility to calm the spirits a little, and allow the security factors to work.
They have done this with great success in recent decades, and no one else - not even the keyboard heroes on social networks - has a magic solution that will eliminate terrorism tomorrow morning.
This is a Sisyphean war, which was here in the past and will unfortunately remain with us in the future as well.
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