Terror wanes, but Shin Bet says threat remains

Is the current wave of Palestinian terrorism waning? Yes, according to data from Israel’s Shin Bet security agency.

But Shin Bet adds that the Islamic Movement in Israel is still trying to stir violence on the Temple Mount, and that terrorist groups plan to perpetrate large attacks against Israeli targets in the coming weeks. One of the chief concerns, Shin Bet says, is that the current lull in violence is designed to conceal preparations for the next large wave of terror.

The head of the Shin Bet research division told Israel’s weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that there has been a dramatic decline in the number of Palestinian terrorist attacks in recent weeks. He added, however, that efforts to perpetrate complex attacks such as suicide bombings or abductions of soldiers still pose a concrete threat.

“The Shin Bet and the Israeli security forces have thwarted 290 substantial attacks, including 25 attempted abductions and 15 attempted suicide bombings,” the official, whose identity was undisclosed, told government ministers.

Since Sept. 13, 2015, the Palestinian terror wave has claimed the lives of 34 people and injured more than 400 others, in attacks mainly consisting of stabbings, shootings, and car-rammings. There were 20 terrorist attacks in March and only three so far in April, compared to 78 substantial attacks last October, the Shin Bet official said.

“Israel’s actions have convinced the Palestinian public that escalation is futile,” he said, adding that “most of the terrorist attacks were perpetrated by young people. Some of the attacks were motivated by nationalistic sentiments, but most of them were personally motivated by things like financial distress or personal crises. … Alongside these attacks, in recent months terrorist organizations, with an emphasis on Hamas, have been trying to perpetrate substantial attacks in Judea and Samaria and inside Israel in an effort to accelerate the escalation of violence.”