Saturday’s terrorist attack at Nahalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv was similar to last week’s shooting in Ma’aleh Adumim in that in both cases they were perpetrated by a lone shooter, and there was no advance warning of a specific attack on the way.
In both attacks, the terrorists were killed by security officials – in Tel Aviv by a municipal security guard and in Ma’aleh Adumim by an off-duty Border Police officer.
Another common thread in the two attacks is that they’ve taken place under the watch of the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Terrorism is not a new invention of the last seven months, and during the terms of Netanyahu’s immediate predecessors, Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, there was certainly no shortage of stabbings and shootings.
However, one of the main issues that both Netanyahu’s Likud and Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party ran on in last year’s election was how they would restore security for Israeli citizens.
Interestingly, neither of those parties focused on the issue of judicial reform – the overriding theme of the coalition since its inception. Some might even call it an obsession.
Despite the major campaign launched in Jenin to root out terrorists last month, for all intents and purposes, the focus on fighting terrorism has taken a back seat to the battle raging between the coalition and the opposition, which has torn the country in two.
Fighting terror has become an awkward dance step between Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir, whom he needs in the coalition but doesn’t trust in matters of security because he, like the rest of the country is painfully aware, is not qualified for his job.
It would be comical if it weren’t so deadly
Ben-Gvir is rightfully kept out of sensitive security consultations and is often at odds with the heads of the Israel Police, which he is in charge of. His unilateral firing of former police chief Ami Eshed is an example of his impulsive and unprofessional behavior.
Neither Ben-Gvir nor Netanyahu is to blame for the regular terror attacks that are plaguing the country. But the dysfunction of a national security minister who is in his position solely to keep the coalition from falling apart is doing nothing to bring security to the Israeli people.
The coalition could very well succeed in its attempt to bring about a judicial reform revolution. But, as we are seeing on a nearly daily basis, they are failing at the basic requirements that any government needs to be measured by – keeping its citizens safe.