The current wave of terror is reminiscent of past waves of lone-wolf attacks Israel experienced in 2015-2016.
At the time, nearly attacks, whether by stabbings, car-ramming or shootings were carried out by people who were not members of organizations and their motives were personal or religious rage or a desire to avenge the deaths of others who carried out attacks before them and were killed in the process.
When those attacks in the past decade began, the IDF was surprised and at a loss as to how it must deal with them, given the fact that there was no terror infrastructure to act against and the perpetrators were young Palestinians who acted spontaneously to kill Jews so that they may be considered "martyrs" on social media.
There were 40 fatalities and 459 more Israelis who were wounded before that wave ended in 2016.
Terror waves such as this, sometimes begin because of religious friction between Jews and Arabs. In 2015 – a call from the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah who claimed the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was under threat.
There was no basis for his claim other than the fact that the Netanyahu government at the time, allowed Jews to enter the mosque compound – or Temple Mount as it is called by Jews.
Far-Right members of the government acted provocatively on the site, which is holy to both faiths and provided the fuel for Salah's claims, which were then prompted the others to add more incitement.
That led to stone throwing in Jerusalem that caused the death of a resident when his car veered off the road and the wave of terror began.
It was the first time that social media played such an active role as a tool for incitement to act and for calls for revenge when terrorists were killed.
In their efforts to stop the wave, security forces including the police, the military and the Shin bet, managed to foil attacks by monitoring the social media posts, warning the families of those seen as potential attackers and even conducting preventive arrests.
They also made sure to differentiate between the terrorists and the civilian population around them, believing that post Palestinians were not involved in the violent acts.
Then Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot aimed to allow Palestinians to go about their daily lives while his forces were focused exclusively – as mush as was possible – on the potential perpetrators and those who incited them to act.
Such precise actions, which were made possible by good intelligence collection on the ground, CCTV footage and the monitoring of social media posts, prevented the security situation from deteriorating further.
Security forces also increased their presence in potential points of Jewish – Arab friction in Jerusalem and on the West Bank with trained troops ready to respond quickly to any attempt at attacks.
The prevalence of security forces on the ground deterred many from taking action and allowed the forces to quickly apprehend or kill, those who did carry out acts of terror.
All those methods along with the incarceration of the Sheikh behind much of the incitement ultimately ended the terror wave.
The current wave of terror may be prompted by tensions in Jerusalem including Sheikh Jarrah but also by the uptick of police actions in the Arab sector, which is plagued by violent crime gangs. Police have launched a nation-wide campaign to locate and confiscate illegal arms used by those gangs in Israel and on the West Bank.
4 View gallery
IDF troops during a raid on terror suspects in the West Bank on Thursday
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The ease of obtaining weapons has also contributed to the recent attacks.
Other contributing factors could be the clashes in the Negev over Bedouin claims of land ownership and the racial riots in mixed cities, last year.
The Shin Bet has warned of lone-wolf attackers and those carried out by small, local initiatives. Some 100 such attacks were averted in since the beginning of 2022 and last year, some 500 attacks were prevented.
ISIS was not the instigator or reason for most, they were the result of rage, religious extremism and the desire for revenge. And many were among Arab citizens of Israel.
Having learned from past experience the security forces are flooding the streets, but at the same time are attempting to differentiate between potential violent actors and ordinary civilians both in Israel and in the West Bank and have also decided not to impose restrictions during the holy month of Ramadan
First published: 21:58, 03.31.22