Let the Shin Bet work

The defense establishment now has two searing headaches following last week's terrorist attack in the village of Duma that left Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsha dead. The first headache is external and revolves around the need to ensure that the Palestinian response to the killing doesn't spin out of control. The second is internal, and is about realizing that Jewish terrorism has spun out of control and requires a different type of response.

The defense establishment is well versed in how to cope with the first headache. Shortly after the incident a situation assessment was convened, which produced the necessary immediate actions: reinforcements were deployed to Judea and Samaria (four battalions for now), an increased presence on the roads to prevent shooting attacks, residents have received instructions, and mainly -- cooperation with the Palestinian Authority's security forces has been strengthened.

In the meantime, things have not spun out of control. Despite calls from the Fatah-affiliated Tanzim and Hamas, the violence has been kept on a low flame, mostly contained by the PA security apparatus. This proves again that the PA, at the current time, is uninterested in a clash with Israel, but also highlights how critical it is for both sides to have cooperation on the ground level.

The high state of alert will be maintained for the next few days, due to the sensitivity of the situation on the ground and concerns over revenge attacks. It is exceedingly likely that the shooting attack on Friday night near the community of Kochav Hashahar was an immediate response to the murder in Duma, and according to assessments we can also expect "lone wolf" attacks in Judea and Samaria and in Jerusalem.

The second headache is more troubling to the defense establishment, because of the profound sense that its hands are partly tied. Dozens of terrorist attacks against Palestinians (and on mosques and churches) have been perpetrated in recent years. In some cases, in which the result was damage to property, it was only by luck that there were no casualties. And yet -- many of these cases were never solved, and when they were the punishments were absurd.

The Shin Bet security agency says that even when a case doesn't end in a conviction the offenders identity is known, but the problem of providing evidence (which could sometimes mean exposing intelligence sources), has prevented indictments from being filed. Administrative detentions were created for this precise reason and the defense establishment is now expected to expand the use of that option against radical right wing elements -- beyond the traditional restraining orders which are more difficult to enforce on the ground.

The problem, however, runs deeper. A few hundred youngsters currently comprise, according to Shin Bet assessments, the radical terrorist core of the nationalist Right. The Shin Bet's Jewish division has struggled to infiltrate this core, and when it succeeds -- the result is often a soft hand from the prosecution or courts, not to mention a supportive ideological environment. A senior defense establishment official was adamant on Saturday that he would be surprised if "there wasn't a direct connection between the events in Beit El and the terrorist attack in Duma." The moral of his message was clear: Politicians are also responsible.

The necessary treatment of the problem, however, must go even deeper, down to the rabbis who incite to violence and the environment that legitimizes criminal behavior such as harming soldiers and police officers. It must confront a public atmosphere in which the country's president is taunted for expressing shock and remorse over a murdered toddler. And of course, the treatment must include the terminology we use (no more "price tag" and "nationalist crime," rather terror) and how we categorize ("terrorist organization" -- which will make it possible to employ more effective means to fight them).

And above all else, we must let the Shin Bet work and pre-empt, investigate and shake things up; otherwise we could wake up tomorrow and discover that the apocalypse is already upon us.

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