This time, they're mum
, עודכן
An uncharacteristic silence marked the Palestinian arena from the moment it was reported on Friday that three Israeli teenagers had been kidnapped. No Palestinian official took responsibility for the act and the Palestinian leadership refrained from responding to it.
The Palestinian Authority, which is sovereign in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank, has once again proved that it is a problematic partner for Israel. On one hand, its security apparatus cooperates with the Israel Defense Forces in an attempt to keep things quiet in the territories and prevent Hamas, the PA's political rival, from popping up in Judea and Samaria.
On the other hand, official Palestinian discourse legitimizes any move intended to free Palestinians imprisoned in Israel and demonstrates tolerance for any action against the settler public.
In the past, Hamas was the standard-bearer of the violent struggle against Israel. But in recent months the Hamas heads have been leading two strategic processes. One is planning and maintaining a cease-fire with Israel -- fragile though it may be -- on the Gaza border. The second is making a historic peace with the PA, its former rival and what's worse: an entity that repeatedly declares its commitment to peace with Israel.
Hamas hasn't given up its combative rhetoric, but today its resources are being devoted to a battle for survival in the Gaza Strip in an environment that is difficult -- not to say hostile (Egypt under its new president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.) It's no wonder that no one from Hamas has been in a hurry to address the events, let alone claim responsibility for them. It's possible that Hamas really isn't behind this latest incident.
The third-largest organized group operating in the Palestinian arena is the Islamic Jihad. This is an extremist movement that never adopted limits, like Hamas, and is responsible for repeated violations of the cease-fire on the Gaza border. But unlike the past, this movement is also maintaining radio silence.
This explains the assessment by many in Israel that the kidnapping of the yeshiva students this weekend was the work of a local terror organization with ties of one kind or another to one of the large groups. The Hamas infrastructure in the Hebron area, which is self-sufficient, cut off from Hamas in Gaza, has been mentioned in this context, as have solitary terrorists who operate spontaneously out of a desire for revenge or to have relatives released from Israeli prisons.
The Palestinian Authority leapt on a message claiming responsibility published by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. This is an organization affiliated with al-Qaida whose people are taking control of Iraq even as we speak and are up to their necks fighting against Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.
Similar radical groups operate against Israel out of Lebanon and in the Sinai Peninsula, but thus far have not been present in Judea and Samaria. Thus, it is doubtful that the message means anything, but we must be cautious.
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