Analysis: The Intifada in Yerushalayim

From the moment the news broke of the terror attack at the light rail in Yerushalayim in which a three-month-old infant was killed and seven others wounded, I asked myself:

How long will it take for the next declaration from the Israeli government: “I have ordered the security forces to…”

It was not long in coming. It took less than an hour this time, for the statements are already prepared and ready for publication beforehand.

Right up until today, the security forces have been doing very little to stop the intifada that is taking place in Yerushalayim.

The higher echelons don’t like to hear the word intifada. They maintain that an intifada is carried out with guns and shooting. But it appears that there is also a type of intifada that is waged with rocks and firebombs, hit-and-run cars and heavy tractors that can overturn buses.

What has been happening in Yerushalayim over the past few months cannot be called anything other than an intifada. The attacks are carried out day after day, more than once a day. In the last month there were 387 attacks in the city.

It happens on Har Hazeisim, Har Hatzofim, on the road to Kever Rochel, in Neve Yaakov, Ramot, Shuafat and various other places in the city.

Complaints have been mounting as well at workplaces where Arabs are employed. More and more complaints are lodged about pieces of glass and metal in baked products, damage to vehicles taken to garages for repair. Oil is spilled on the roadways. Buses on routes all over the capital are pelted with rocks, and attacks on private vehicles tripled within three months.

The failure of the authorities to respond forcefully has encouraged a steady rise in the violence and vandalism, which resulted in the killing of an innocent Jewish baby on Wednesday.

Yerushalayim residents feel no longer safe. The deterrent power of the law enforcement system has vanished.

Only the introduction of large security forces to enforce a policy of no tolerance will put a stop to the violence and rioting.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the October 23rd, 2014 edition of Hamodia.