Fewer than three months have passed since the controversial conclusion to the Protective Edge campaign in Gaza Aug. 26, and the wave of violence flooding Jerusalem has dumped yet another security challenge on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s doorstep.

The vehicular terror attack on Nov. 5 at a light rail station in Jerusalem, in which two civilians were killed, was another severe incident in a string of violent acts. All this is beginning to emerge as an organized Palestinian battle for sovereignty of the city.

Again — as before and during the Protective Edge campaign — Netanyahu finds himself challenged by the hard-core right-wing flank of his government and party. Throughout last week, several of them went on well-publicized tours of the Temple Mount and heated up an already combustible atmosphere, while the premier was unable to control them. The contingent included Knesset members Miri Regev, Shuli Mualem, Moshe Feiglin, Housing Minister Uri Ariel and Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely, all of whom ascended the Temple Mount. Following these visits, and only after Jordanian King Abdullah demanded that the prime minister restore the peace, did Netanyahu personally contact the wayward Knesset members on Nov. 6, asking them to refrain from provocative behavior.

But on the eve of that same day, Netanyahu discovered that HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett, continued to ignore him. Bennett persists in building himself up as leader of the right at Netanyahu’s expense — the same behavior that Bennett had exhibited during the Protective Edge campaign. At a Bar Ilan University conference, Bennett called on Netanyahu to embark on a new Operation Defensive Shield in Jerusalem and restore Israel’s deterrence capacity. Then he proceeded to hit Netanyahu below the belt when he said that a government that hides behind concrete blocks has no right to exist.