Israel has experienced many forms of terror in the past: the rock and Molotov cocktail intifada (1987-1993), and the suicide bomb and shooting attack intifada (2000-2005), followed by roadside charges, abduction of soldiers, use of missiles and recently the individual intifada that broke out in October 2015 and mainly involved knife attacks. But an arsonist intifada — terror focused on igniting fires — is something that had not been experienced before.

From information gathered so far it seems that the wave of fires that Israel witnessed in the third week of November was to a large extent premeditated and related to Palestinian nationalism. This fire wave was facilitated by extreme weather conditions: a winter that has not yet begun; rain that has not yet made an appearance; dry and flammable shrubbery; and especially dry eastern winds that stir up the fires. With such conditions, only one spark is needed to set an entire forest on fire, or even a large city. And in many instances, the arsonists acted on their own initiative. It was a miracle that no lives were lost. Israel used dozens of firefighting aircraft from nearby and remote countries, including the famous "Supertanker" from the United States, at great expense. It is clear that next time it could be a lot worse.

It all started Nov. 23 with a large fire in the northern city of Zichron Yaakov that caused great property damage. The following day, when a giant fire erupted in Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, many Israelis felt a troubling sense of deja vu: Exactly six years ago, on Dec. 2, 2010, a massive fire, later referred to as the Carmel tragedy, broke out. Forty-four people died in this deadly forest fire, most of whom were prison wardens who were evacuated from the Damon prison and then were trapped in a burning bus in the heart of the inferno. At that time, too, winter was delayed, but then the fire's cause was negligence.

This time, according to results of the investigation to date, what we witnessed was a large wave of arson-induced fires that threatened to burn down an entire country together with its inhabitants. The police are holding about 30 suspects: 18 Arab-Israelis and the rest Arab Palestinians. In light of the great destruction and damage that was caused — estimated to be in the billions of shekels — and in light of the new dangers posed by this unusual form of terror, a debate is underway on how to punish the arsonists. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this terror is worse than other forms, and thus it must be addressed with great severity.