TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – Three deadly attacks in Israel in a week are raising questions over Israel’s approach to its conflict with the Palestinians, after years of efforts to sideline the issue and focus instead on other regional priorities.
The attacks by Palestinian assailants, including most recently on Tuesday night, have killed 11 people in the deadliest spate Israel has seen in years. They come as peace talks on ending Israel’s rule over Palestinians and setting up a Palestinian state on occupied lands are a distant memory. In the meantime, Israel has shifted its priorities to containing archenemy Iran and building regional Arab alliances.
Israel’s government, with support from the Biden administration, has tried to do what leaders describe as “shrinking” the conflict. Instead of seeking a partition deal with the Palestinians, it aims to keep things quiet by taking steps to improve the Palestinian economy and reduce frictions.
But now, as Israel faces the possibility of another cycle of violence less than a year after a war with Hamas militants in Gaza, the Palestinian issue is once again clawing its way back to the fore and exposing the weaknesses of this approach.
It was a message that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tried to deliver as he condemned Tuesday night’s shooting in the central city of Bnei Brak.