We've seen worse

Very nearby, just across the border, a war is raging, a real war. Taking part are Syrians, Iranians, Russians, American jets and other coalition aircraft. And there are also 157 terrorist groups, among them the cream of the jihadi crop -- none other than the Islamic State group.

The war in Syria directly influences so many countries in the region, even extending to Europe with its current refugee problem. The war in Syria also has the potential to spark a third world war. But, here in Israel, it isn't really affecting our daily lives. Incredible.

The fruits of incitement

Meanwhile, a handful of young Arabs, really young, have recently embarked on independent endeavors to start stabbing Israelis, one after the other. One chose a knife, the other a screwdriver. One carried out his attack in Afula, another in Kiryat Gat, a third in Jerusalem, another one in Tel Aviv. Their goal is identical: to kill Jews. In the meantime, thanks to resourcefulness, plain luck, or the type of weapon being used, these attacks, while also leading to deaths (the two victims on Hagai Street in Jerusalem), have mainly resulted in wounds.

The attackers do not have firearms or explosives and their actions are not coordinated. They don't appear to be members of al-Qaida, Islamic State or any other terrorist organization. They also don't really differentiate between a settlement in Judea and Samaria and Petach Tikva. From their perspective, all Jews are impure. This is precisely why someone or something is convincing them to choose the worst option -- death.

They scour the Internet and consume propaganda videos describing how the Jews are desecrating Islam. The spiritual winds of Islamic State and the Islamists that are sweeping across our entire region are pushing them toward what they consider to be heroism.

Don't mind the facts

Of course, the content they are consuming on the Internet is nothing more than mendacious propaganda, but then again facts were never the strong suit of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The new lie disseminated in recent weeks is that Israel is violating the status quo on the Temple Mount. That was enough to ignite the flames.

If anyone needed more proof that our conflict with the Palestinians is religious, not territorial, the events of the past few days have provided it. Religion has become such an effective tool that even Joint Arab List MK Jamal Zahalka, who describes himself as an atheist (opportunist would be more appropriate), is suddenly drawn to the Temple Mount as if it were a microphone. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is now calling for calm, exacerbated the situation even more by demanding that the Jews remove their "filthy feet" from the Temple Mount. Good thing he isn't mandating we wash our feet before entering our own capital.

We have known worse days in our country. We have known wars that threatened our existence and we have known horrific waves of terror attacks that have lasted longer and claimed over a thousand lives. In comparison, the recent terrorist attacks look to be straight out of some two-bit horror flick, with a different zombie emerging time after time to hurt Jews after watching a video or listening to a tape. Once that zombie is neutralized in some way, another immediately follows.

In every cycle of violence Israel rediscovers itself: This time the homefront is the front line. Was anyone thinking just a few days ago that at any given moment, on any street in Israel, heroes are walking among us-

The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on Friday. And to think, Yasser Arafat, the man who preceded Abbas, was among the recipients.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו