The March 29 shooting spree in the suburban Tel Aviv town of Bnei Brak was the clincher. There is no longer any doubt that Israel is in the throes of a wave of terrorism, as articulated by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the deadliest it has experienced in seven years. Within one week, 11 people (nine Israelis and two foreign nationals) were murdered on the streets of three Israeli towns: Beersheba, Hadera and Bnei Brak.
Unlike the attacks in Beersheba March 22 and Hadera March 27 carried out by Israeli Arab citizens affiliated with the Islamic State organization, the Bnei Brak shooter was a Palestinian from the northern West Bank village of Yabd. Perhaps inspired by the two previous assaults, he is believed to have entered Israel through one of the many breaches in the security fence with the West Bank. He seems to have chosen Bnei Brak because he was familiar with the area, having worked there illegally on a construction site.
