Defenseless Israelis in the West Bank

YNET – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s Pavlovian response to the recent wave of terror was the regular demand that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemn the acts of murder, alongside a promise to work firmly to capture the terrorists.

But this response is baseless. The Israelis living in the West Bank communities of Kochav Hashahar or Dolev don’t expect condemnations from Abbas, as the sole responsibility for their security rests on the shoulders of Netanyahu, Ya’alon and the government members.

The past few years have not seen real negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and the Israelis who established the settlements in the West Bank expected the different governments led by Netanyahu to secure their wellbeing in such a sensitive situation. That didn’t happen – Netanyahu preferred to talk about the Iranian threat, and apparently did not devote the proper attention to the flame which burst among the Palestinians time and again and led to the murder of many Israelis.

It seems that the dominating perception among the high Israeli echelon is that it’s better not to make any decisions in any direction – neither to advance a proper peace process nor to handle terror with a firm hand, like in Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, for example.

Unilateral moves – like the annexation of lands, a withdrawal from certain areas and converging in the settlement blocs recognized by the Bush Jr. administration – are not being carried out as well, and they can’t come as an alternative to a policy in any event.

We can’t and we don’t have to take an example from the actions of our neighbor, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who announced this week that all the death penalties imposed on the Muslim Brotherhood leaders would be implemented. Al-Sisi is fighting the Islamic terror in his country firmly and without winking, but also in a brutal manner which does not befit a democratic Western and enlightened regime.

Nonetheless, we can and should demand that the Israeli government and its leader show zero tolerance towards attacks on Israelis – wherever they may be. Kochav Hashahar should be treated just like Tel Aviv, and everyone deserves the same rights.

“The salt of the earth,” Malachi Rosenfeld’s mother said at his funeral Wednesday, as she described her sons – young men who served in elite units in the IDF and contributed to the state’s defense. They deserve to see the leaders of that state make an effort to provide them with the same defense, instead of just waiting for a photo opportunity near the bed of the wounded during which they can use pompous words to talk about the horrible region we live in.