For the first time since the second intifada, an Israeli government summoned the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to Jerusalem, on Oct. 13. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first assumed power in 1996, his campaign slogan was “Peres will split Jerusalem.” It caught on like wildfire, greatly damaging the electoral chances of Labor Party leader Shimon Peres while exploiting the sacredness of Jerusalem to the vast majority of Israelis wherever they might be. Netanyahu raised the status of Jerusalem to a new level, turning himself into the city’s official guardian and protector. Since then, every time the issue of peace through diplomacy makes Israeli headlines, Likud spokespeople immediately jump into action, charging that the left will partition Jerusalem. These days, Jerusalem has truly been divided, but not by the left.

In case anyone has forgotten, a truly right-wing government is in control in Israel. For the first time, the government does not contain a moderating or centrist element as in the past, such as the Labor Party (Ehud Barak) or Kadima (Tzipi Livni). Even moderate Likud ministers like Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan have disappeared from the scene. Ironically, it is a rightist government that is being forced to acknowledge that Jerusalem is, de facto, divided — into the western and the eastern, the Jewish versus the Palestinian.

After Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967, the two parts of the city were united. With the second intifada (2000 to 2005), Israel began to build a fence to separate peripheral Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem. It has now come to pass that for quite some time, Israel has not exercised sovereignty in the eastern part of the city. Government symbols no longer exist there, and the government's presence is limited. East Jerusalem has become a no-man's land and a fertile hotbed for despair, alienation, isolation and religious extremism. If one adds to the pot the incitement by such actors as the northern branch of the Israeli Islamic Movement, headed by the radical Sheikh Raed Salah, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the roiling social networks, the result is what we are now witnessing. The request for IDF assistance by the Israeli police in the heart of Israel’s capital can be compared to summoning the US Marines to patrol the streets of Washington. The symbols of Israeli sovereignty are in danger.

We live in an era of surprises. Israel longs for the good old days when a high-quality agent in the vicinity of an Arab ruler and a sophisticated wiretapping system could be relied on as an intelligence “insurance policy” for assessing the odds of a war erupting. This allowed Israeli leaders to sleep well at night. That era is gone, however, and the current intifada — which Palestinians are calling the “al-Quds [Jerusalem] intifada” and some the knife intifada — took Israel’s political echelons by complete surprise. Analyzing this bombshell reveals contradictory data.