Israel was shrouded in deep mourning over the two double murders perpetrated on the Sukkot holiday, in which four Israeli lives were lost. The political echelon was furious and no conclusive steps to calm the violent winds were to be found, not on the right nor on the left. It is interesting how, in this explosive tension, many people are busy asking a question that promises neither peace nor security: Why doesn’t President Mahmoud Abbas condemn the attacks?

True, it is indeed appropriate to expect the No. 1 man in Ramallah to condemn the two recent terror acts as a humanitarian gesture. However, Israel’s desperate expectations that Abbas will express his sorrow, that he distances himself from such acts or condemns them — all this shows that we have our priorities wrong, while our dead still lie before us. Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went through the trouble of protesting the thunderous silence in Ramallah. “How can you move forward to peace if you don't fight terror, if you don't renounce terror?” Netanyahu said in an interview Oct. 2 with Fox News, in between the two terror attacks.

Although the silence by Abbas is hard on Israelis, it is not surprising. At least, not this time. Abbas feels that his stance vis-a-vis violence is well known, apparently especially against harsh murderous attacks of the type that took place last week in Jerusalem. He does not feel himself compelled to repeat it automatically after Israelis are murdered, so long as Israel does not express sorrow — certainly not condemnation — over the death of young Palestinians from the bullets of Israel’s soldiers. The way the Palestinian Authority (PA) sees it, not all the young people killed by Israeli fire are murderers or stabbers who wanted to die while taking the lives of settlers or soldiers with them. Some were protesters who did not really threaten soldiers’ lives when they were shot, others died from stray bullets. Sometimes the Israeli triggers that were pulled causing their deaths were not needed.

The Palestinian president has openly expressed his position against violence for many years; in Arabic, English and at almost every possible forum. Abbas' position has a good track record, as any Shin Bet or Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operative in the field can testify to. Abbas explains this position in simple words. He feels that when it comes to violent confrontation, Israel has the upper hand. They have the power to bring destruction on us, he says, so we have to achieve our victories in legal and diplomatic arenas. Thus, it is in this spirit that Abbas instructs his security apparatus to cooperate with the Shin Bet to thwart terror attacks and pursue fugitives. Although squeaks sometimes appear in this collaborative venture, it is still unique in the history of the relations between Israel and the Palestinians.