A series of terrorist attacks that have swept Israel since March 22 has claimed the lives of 19 people in the towns of Beersheba, Hadera, Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Ariel and Elad.
Security officials had hoped the attacks would peter out after the highly charged period of religious observances that converged in April, including the Muslim month of Ramadan, the Jewish Passover holiday and Easter. Their hopes were dashed in the evening hours of May 5 as Israelis were celebrating Independence Day when two Palestinians crossed from the West Bank into the ultra-Orthodox town of Elad, axing and knifing to death three Israeli men and seriously wounding two others.
