The series of terrorist attacks and violent clashes in Jerusalem in recent months, variously labeled as “The Al-Aqsa Intifada” and “The Jerusalem Intifada,” among other things, has fortunately abated without igniting an all-out confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians. In retrospect, the meeting among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Secretary of State John Kerry and King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman on Nov. 13 seems to have been the turning point, following which the level of tension decreased.
The effort to calm the situation made by Israel and the Palestinian Authority have borne fruit, and the situation in Jerusalem is under control. But the fragile routine of life in the city has not been fully restored, and any event is liable to rekindle the flames. Numerous police and border patrol forces are deployed in the streets to serve as a buffer between Jews and Arabs, especially in the Old City of Jerusalem and the holy places. Anyone walking through the alleys of the Old City, en route to the Western Wall or the Al-Aqsa Mosque, would notice the hundreds of soldiers and policemen whose job is simply to prevent provocation or even contact between Jews and Arabs.
