Israel has signed full peace treaties with only two neighboring states: Egypt and Jordan. It has temporary arrangements on other borders that provide a tactical peace that protects it from terrorists in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. However, Hezbollah and Hamas still reject any form of compromise with Israel. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is all smiles, but he is actually fomenting the political turbulence at the U.N. Security Council, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not fully embraced the two-state solution. Thus the calm on the Gaza front and in Judea and Samaria may be a temporary respite, the result of the ongoing efforts of the Israel Defense Forces to defuse the situation. Considering these constraints, Israel's security policy has been a success. There are several measures to gauge this: the number of Israeli casualties; the level of anxiety among Israelis; the damage inflicted on the enemy as a deterrent against renewed hostilities; and the diplomatic damage to Israel when a new round of violence erupts. Operation Protective Edge in 2014 was the template Israel will follow in the future: a minimum of Israeli casualties, a crushing blow to Hamas, and protracted calm. These measures should apply to the so-called "knife intifada," the sporadic attacks over recent months. These attacks have become a new kind of challenge for the IDF, the Shin Bet security agency and the Israel Police. The forceful, yet restrained, approach of the Israeli forces has been criticized by those who have advocated an all-out assault on the Gaza Strip, without presenting a reasonable plan of action. The very same people also wanted a major operation in Judea and Samaria. The defense establishment shot down all those ideas, which came from Likud, Habayit Hayehudi and Yisrael Beytenu MKs, and rightfully so. Had Israel applied more force against the stabbing attacks, that would have generated more antagonism on the world stage and drawn Israel into more severe clashes. The patience shown by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot (and his predecessor Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz) has proved to be the most effective tool -- more than the plans offered by Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, as well as a handful of Likud ministers and MKs. The figures released by the Shin Bet on Sunday showing a drop in terrorist incidents underscore Israel's successful policies. We should also heed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's warning that things could heat up again. But for the time being, the results are the most promising to date. We are now in a lull. Despite the falsehoods being propagated, IDF troops still fire on terrorists with all they have, the IDF has stood fully behind Col. Yisrael Shomer, the Binyamin Brigade commander who shot a Palestinian after he failed to subdue him, and the soldier who shot a subdued terrorist in Hebron last month will receive a fair trial. If, as the footage taken by left-wing group B'Tselem suggests, his actions were wrongful, he should get a punishment that fits the crime and a proportionate sentence. The "knife intifada" is not over, but it has not been a success. Its masterminds have yet to rest, and security officials would be well-advised to be careful in their assessments, even if things appear relatively satisfactory so far.
