Escalating attacks on Israel

In the midst of so much other turmoil in the Middle East, an alarming recent outburst of violence against Israel should not be overlooked. Indications are that Iran is behind this dangerous surge.

Recent weeks have seen the murder of a settler couple and their three children, rocket attacks from Gaza and the explosion of a suitcase left near a bus stop in the crowded heart of Jerusalem, barely a mile from the Knesset, that killed a Scottish visitor and wounded 30 others.

Israel has responded to the first serious rise in terrorist violence in nearly three years with a bombing raid on suspected terrorist sites in Gaza and the threat of a major invasion there. The Israeli press reports that the threats are an effort to get both Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to crack down on the splinter group Islamic Jihad, believed responsible for the new attacks.

Islamic Jihad is a small but highly trained terrorist group with headquarters in Damascus, Syria, that aims for the destruction of Israel. It is supported by Syria, Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon.

Eleven rockets were fired as many as 20 miles into Israel near Ashdod last Thursday, prompting the closure of schools with roughly 100,000 students. The new attacks reached three to four times as deeply into Israel as the 2008 rocket bombardment did.

The new violence appears to be aimed at provoking a harsh Israeli response in anger for the first serious bombing in Jerusalem in seven years and the cold-blooded murder of the settler family. A violent response with Arab civilian casualties could be used by agents of Iran to whip up extremist sentiment. It could further exacerbate turmoil among the Arab crowds demonstrating in Jordan, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen.

As U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned after meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad in the West Bank capital Ramallah on Friday, "We all need to be mindful that we don't want to do anything that allows extremists or others to divert the narrative of reform that is going on" in the Middle East.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel is ready to act "with great force and great determination" to stop the terror attacks. Echoing a remark made by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008, he added, "No country could accept such attacks."

But Sec. Gates also advised caution, saying there is need instead for "bold action" to resurrect peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. At their meeting, the Palestinian prime minister told Mr. Gates, "This is ... a time for opportunity" to pursue "the cause of peace and justice and security." It is clear that the PA is increasingly betting on establishing mutually profitable economic relations with Israel as a foundation for peace.

Thus, the news is encouraging that Israel is talking to Hamas in Gaza about ways to stop the rocket attacks and maintain calm. Hamas is reported to be furious with the Islamic Jihad and its own extremists.

If so, it's a hopeful sign that even Hamas is becoming more concerned about reducing threats and creating opportunities for economic growth than it is about fantasies of exterminating Israel.