Where Is the Outrage?

Another terrorist attack on Friday.

On Friday morning, two Palestinian gunmen attacked Israelis near Hebron, wounding three people and killing two. According to the IDF’s preliminary investigation, the terrorists apparently intended to reach Route 35 and carry out an even larger attack against Israeli civilians, but an IDF checkpoint prevented them from getting there.

The military later found a large quantity of ammunition in their vehicle. The IDF believes the checkpoint thwarted their plans for a potentially mass-casualty attack against civilians.

Fortunately, Israeli soldiers were there.

But where is the outrage?

Contrast today’s reaction with what happened just one week ago.

American photojournalist Heidi Levine, working for The Washington Post, was seriously injured while covering the Palestinian olive harvest in Abu Falah. The next day, French, Belgian and Polish diplomats were attacked in another incident in Judea and Samaria.

Those attacks were disgraceful. There is no justification for Jews attacking Palestinian farmers, journalists, diplomats or anyone else. Violence is violence, regardless of who commits it.

And the international condemnation was immediate and intense. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be prosecuted. France, Belgium and Poland also demanded action from Israel.

Israel acted.

Israeli police arrested ten suspects in connection with the violence.

A few days later, the IDF also detained about 90 activists affiliated with Rabbis for Human Rights, including US congressional nominee Brad Lander, who had come to accompany Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest. Most were subsequently released, some subject to restrictions.

One can certainly debate the wisdom or justification of those detentions. But the broader point remains: when Jewish extremists commit violence, Israel is immediately told that it is responsible for stopping them, arresting them and holding them accountable.

And I agree.

Israel should stop them. Israel should arrest Israelis who commit acts of violence. And Israel should prosecute them when the evidence warrants it.

But that leads to an obvious question:

Where is the same demand for Palestinian accountability?

Where are the demands that the Palestinian Authority identify the networks supporting terrorists, arrest those involved and dismantle the infrastructure that enables these attacks?

Where are the statements demanding accountability from Palestinian political leaders?

Someone will undoubtedly respond: But these terrorists may have been affiliated with Hamas, not the PA.

That misses the point.

When an Israeli extremist commits an act of violence, nobody accepts the argument that the Israeli government is absolved simply because the perpetrator doesn’t belong to the governing coalition. Israel is expected to prevent violence, investigate it and prosecute those responsible.

Why shouldn’t Palestinian authorities be held to the same standard?

There is another uncomfortable element to this discussion: the Palestinian prisoner and “martyr” payment system.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas formally announced reforms to the Pay for Slay program. But no one has certified that these payments have stopped. In fact, to an observer they have just continued under a different format.

But the broader issue remains legitimate: why should any system exist, that can financially benefit the families of people who attack innocent civilians?

There should not be two standards for terrorism.

I have no hesitation condemning Jewish extremists who attack Palestinian farmers, journalists or diplomats. They shame Israel, they damage Israel’s reputation, and when they commit crimes, they should face justice.

But surely, we can demand the same moral clarity when the victims are Jews.

If five Palestinians had been shot, and two died, we know there would be international statements, condemnations that Israel was guilty of genocide, demands for investigations and questions about what Israel was doing to prevent the next attack.

Five Israelis were shot Friday. Two died.

So I ask again: Where is the outrage?