Terror attacks continue to hit Israel in the holy month of Ramadan where, for Islamic terrorists, it’s an honor to kill Jews in the name of Allah. Muslims know that Islam has been hijacked by radicals like al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden or the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, both preaching their own sick version of Islam that gives devotees the right to kill infidels like Jews and other that don’t subscribe to strict Islamic law. Last night’s horrific terror attack in Tel Aviv where a radical Palestinian gunman mowed down two Israeli victims, injuring nine others before escaping into the so-called Palestinian territories. While 87-year-old Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attacks from his office in Ramallah, the attacks were celebrated by Hamas and other radical groups in Gaza City. Palestinians have been divided between Hamas and the PLO since 2007.
Unknown Palestinian terrorist struck Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, a busy bar-and-shopping area, bustling with Israelis enjoying late-night festivities. Israelis are warned to avoid busy entertainment districts especially during Ramadan that began April 2 and runs through May 2, pandering to radical elements thinking immortality lies with senseless acts of violence. Tel Aviv police said they will track down the killer wherever they find the terrorist. “It has bee a very difficult night,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wrote on Twitter. “I send my condolences to the families of those who were murdered, and I pray for the complete recovery of the wounded.. Security forces are in pursuit of the terrorist who carried out the murderous rampage tonight in Tel Aviv. Where the terrorist is—we will get him. And everyone who helped him indirectly or directly—will pay a price.
Bennett knows there’s no satisfaction for any Israeli finding out that the otherwise safe country is a ticking time bomb when it comes to terrorism. Especially with a large Arab population living inside Israel’s borders, numbering 1.89 million or 20.95% of the total 9.29 million Israeli population. Israeli officials have lived with various periods of terrorism since the Nov. 30, 1947 Israeli War of Independence to its statehood May 14, 1948, all the way to yesterday’s Tel Aviv attack. Only March 30, five more Israelis were gunned down in Bnei Brak, an east suburb of Tel Aviv. Only two days before, March 28, two Israeli police officers were gunned down, four others wounded, by motorcycle drive by attack. Only a week earlier, four Israelis were killed in a stabbing attack, all suggesting that Israeli does not have control over all terror attacks. Groups like Hamas reward the families of terrorists with pensions.
President Joe Biden, 79, finds himself embroiled in the Ukraine War, no time for a new round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, raising the prospects of a two-state solution. Conservatives like Bennett don’t think a two-state solution would do anything to stop future terrorist attacks. Palestinians are divided between Hamas and the PLO, with Hamas still seeking to annihilate the Jewish State, not wanting peace, only a return of the British mandate. Palestinians were a name given to Arabs living in the Holy Land in 1964 when Yasser Arafat formed the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO]. Arafat went to his grave Nov. 11, 2004, probably poisoned by Hamas, never realizing his dream of a Palestinian state. Arafat never accepted the idea of peace with Israel because, at the time, Hamas was also part of the Palestinian cause, not something divided into Gaza and the West Bank like today.
At some point, Biden and his 59-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken will weigh in to the thorny area of Mideast diplomacy. Former President Donald Trump made significant headway not with Palestinians but creating peace treaties with the United Arab Emirates [UAE] and Bahrain. Palestinians protested because they seek to pressure Israel into making concessions for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Trump bypassed the PLO and Hamas because they couldn’t agree on anything, certainly not a peace deal with Israel. Arab Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia, have worked closely on security with Israel for years, hoping to keep their countries free of Islamic radicals. “Americans are, once again, grieving with the Israeli people in the wake of another deadly terrorist attack, which took the lives of two innocent victims and wounded many more in Tel Aviv,” said Blinken.
All the condolences in the world won’t stop future terrorist attacks inside Israel. Israelis know the risks especially around Ramadan when passions give rise to more terrorist incidents. “Horrified to see another cowardly terror attack on innocent civilians, this time in Tel Aviv,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides wrote on Twitter. As long as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other radical Islamic groups control Gaza, it’s difficult to talk about a two state solution, since Israel could only cut a deal with Abbas in Ramallah. But with Hamas rejecting completely any peace overtures to Israel, a two-state peace deal is not in the cards. More terrorist acts let Israeli’s know to not let down their guard, knowing that at least 50% of the Palestine population wants war, not peace. Bennett doesn’t subscribe to a two-state solution because Palestinians are currently divided between Gaza and the West Bank.
