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Settlement attack reignites counterterror debate in Israel

The attack at the Har Adar settlement by a 37-year-old Palestinian destabilizes assessments by Israeli security agencies over the profile of potential Palestinian assailants.
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Nimr Mahmoud al-Jamal of the West Bank village of Beit Surik opened fire at the gate to the nearby Israeli settlement of Har Adar on Sept. 26, killing a policeman and two security guards. The terror attack reignited the ongoing argument between the Israeli political echelon and defense officials — Ministry of Defense, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet — regarding the profile of would-be terrorists.

Jamal, married and a father of four, does not fit the composite of potential terrorists drawn up by the security establishment during the second Palestinian intifada (2000-2005), and amended to reflect the renewed wave of terror attacks against Israelis that began in September 2015.

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