Fragile Israeli government tested by perfect storm of security threats
Also: Upcoming religious holidays heighten concerns of more violence, including by the Islamic State operating within Israel.
Bennett, Israel fear ‘perfect storm’
A new wave of violence — a combination of armed Palestinian resistance in the West Bank and what many fear is Islamic State-inspired terrorism from within Israel’s Arab communities — presents Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s fragile coalition government with its greatest test to date.
“Israel has not experienced such an intense terrorism spree since the second Palestinian intifada some 20 years ago,” writes Ben Caspit, referring to the popular uprisings against Israeli occupation and settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.
The highly regarded Israeli security agency Shin Bet is under scrutiny for its failure to head off a wave of violence inside Israel that has left nine Israelis and two Ukrainian workers dead in less than two weeks.
