Israel braces for what may come next
Latest bombings have mobilized the nation
Just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, following two massive bomb blasts in Jerusalem, the calls and text messages started coming.
Pigua. (Hebrew word for terror attack.) Jerusalem. Canadian seriously injured. May have died. Many injured. A bus stop. We think. Maybe two. Horrific. That morning. Did I know anything? No. But I learned, along with the rest of the nation, in short order.
Powerful bomb packages had been hidden in bushes adjacent to bus stops at two entrances into Jerusalem. As always during peak rush hour, the bus stops were jammed with commuters. Detonated remotely by mobile phone, the first bomb went off shortly after 7 a.m. The second explosion followed about 30 minutes later. The bombs were packed with nails and ball bearings in order to cause maximum human suffering and death.
Sixteen-year-old Canadian-israeli Aryeh Schupak had not been feeling well on Wednesday morning and spoke by telephone with his teacher, who told him to stay home and rest. Aryeh hemmed and hawed, his teacher told those attending his funeral, and decided at the last moment to go to class. As he waited for his bus with a friend, Aryeh was critically injured and died shortly after in hospital. Consistent with Jewish custom, he was buried within hours.
Of the 22 others injured in this terrorist attack, at least one is in critical condition and fighting to live. Most are young.
Almost eight years ago, on Nov. 18, 2014, another Canadian, originally from Toronto, was attacked by a machete-wielding terrorist while at morning prayer in a Jerusalem synagogue. He clung to life for close to a year before succumbing to his grievous head wounds. Coincidentally, I was to meet with his adult daughter — one of 10 children left fatherless — Thursday evening. We were going to discuss her career options and life stuff, which is a somewhat heartbreaking honour.
Israel is very, very small, and worlds collide, constantly.
His wife, now widow, is also Canadian, and she held a dignified vigil in the hospital where he was triaged and cared for immediately following the attack.
THERE HAS BEEN A STEADY INCREASE IN TERROR ATTACKS. — BERCOVICI
She was so appreciative of my visit of support, as Ambassador representing Canada, that we have maintained contact since. Her family, and Aryeh Schupak’s, live in the same Jerusalem neighbourhood, Har Nof. One can only imagine the collective grief there this week.
Wednesday’s two-site bomb attack has mobilized the country in an extreme manner, not often seen following a terror attack.
Defence and security experts have been discussing the attack with alarm. It has been years since Jerusalem was hit by a bomb attack, and this was no amateur act. Security officials say the level of planning and co-ordination behind the operation suggests a sophisticated organization was behind it. The bombs were very professionally assembled.
Security forces are combing every field and village, reportedly working with significant intelligence. Usually, that means they know who they are looking for.
Israel is always in a state of tension, but various recent developments have resulted in a state of super-heightened alert. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the putative ruler of the West Bank, has a very tenuous hold on power, not to mention poor health.
ATTACK HAS TAKEN THE SITUATION TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
Concern is mounting as to what might happen should he be replaced — by death, incapacitation or some form of overthrow. Hamas has become much more powerful in the West Bank in recent years, raising the possible spectre of its rise in the area.
In recent months, there has been a steady increase in terror attacks and violent confrontations, primarily involving Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Palestinians.
But Wednesday’s attack has taken the situation to the next level. It reminds too many Israelis of the gruesome spate of suicide bombings that roiled the country — especially Jerusalem — during the Second Intifada 20 years ago. Should power transfer from Abbas to, say, Hamas, there is a strong likelihood the West Bank would descend into Gaza-like chaos.
Adding to that concern (to put it mildly) is the election of a hard-right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu who, ironically, is the leftie in this yet-to-be-finalized coalition. Joining his government are extreme right-wing parties that are insisting on control of key aspects of security and defence in the West Bank as their price for supporting the coalition. Netanyahu has yet to agree.
But, should that come to pass, the cycle and intensity of violence will almost certainly escalate. This attack, in a way, was notice from Palestinian extremists that they are ready. And waiting.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon urged his residents on national television Wednesday evening to get back to their routines and live their lives as usual. But, he cannot assure anyone there won’t be another pigua, and another one. This country is psychologically ravaged, 20 years on, by the Second Intifada. Many Israelis moved abroad then because they simply could not bear the pressure. Most people are not built to live like that.
Like many Canadians, I have been watching the ongoing Public Order Emergency Commission proceedings and coverage carefully. I often wonder how our federal leadership would manage a true national threat or crisis, such as when Hamas hammered Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets in May 2021. Or now, when people are blown to bits at bus stops by terrorist bombs.
When civilians are attacked with the intent to murder and maim, that is a threat to national security. We need a dose of reality in Canada.