ANALYSIS: Israel’s Soft Underbelly Is Its Capital City, Home To 350,000 Hostile Arabs With Israeli ID

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Despite Iran’s ongoing attempts to attain nuclear power and its constant ominous threats against Israel, numerous people point to the Palestinians as the most intractable threat to Israel’s immediate security. The millions of Palestinians in Gaza, Judea and Samaria loath Israel and Israelis and armed militias and terrorist groups will stop at nothing to harm Israeli citizens. They have the motivation, the arms and the support of their society for acts of terror and murder.

However most of these Palestinians lack proximity to Israelis. They don’t speak Hebrew, don’t know the geography of Israel and are barred from entering Greater Israel or, if they receive work permits, must undergo thorough searches at checkpoints.

In contrast to them, Jerusalem’s 350,000 Arabs are in the main part almost indistinguishable on the streets of the capital. They carry blue Israeli ID cards, use Israeli numberplates, work freely in all parts of Israel and almost all speak Hebrew as well as their native Arabic.

These privileges have come with almost no corresponding civic responsibilities and duties. The school system, despite being funded by Israeli taxpayers, is mainly unsupervised by the Education Ministry and the educational content is provided predominantly by the PA.

Thus, Arab schoolchildren in East Jerusalem (as opposed to other Israeli Arabs) are exposed to inflammatory incitement and anti-Israel sentiments. The youths are told that they are part of Palestine and dream of being martyrs in the struggle for a state. Far from appreciating their Israeli citizenship, they utilize it to mingle among Israelis, learning the geography of their neighborhoods and the weak points of their security. Many of these same Arabs work as supermarket workers, in drugstores, even in hi-tech, but this does not necessarily change their political orientation or extremist views.

The free mobility afforded by their Israeli ID can be exploited for theft [especially of expensive bicycles and cars] and in extreme cases for terrorist activity. Whereas Judea and Samaria’s communities have a high level of preparedness and can identify and target many of the potential terrorists with the help of the Shabak and IDF, in Jerusalem such terrorists are almost undiscernable, like searching for needles in a haystack.

Most of the recent terrorist activity has been from East Jerusalem Arabs. One of them built the homemade bombs used in the November attack at the entrance to Jerusalem and on the Ramot road, killing two people and injuring many more. Another shot at officers at a security checkpoint, leading to the death of a female soldier and the serious injuries to a security guard. A 16-year-old Jerusalemite stabbed a chareidi man in the Givat Hamivtar neighborhood- all these in the past three months. All the terrorists, as well as the Neve Yaakov murderer, spoke perfect Hebrew. They grew up in Jerusalem, worked and coexisted with Jews – and then set out to murder them.

During the course of the Friday night attack, a woman reportedly begged the terrorist to spare her. He answered in Hebrew: ‘I don’t shoot women’ and proceeded to shoot another woman in the head. This coldblooded murderer used his Israel-numberplated car and Hebrew knowledge to maximize the brutality of his attack.

Jerusalem mayor Moshe Leon stressed on Saturday night the need for “confiscating illegal firearms and fighting the incitement on social media and in educational institutions and study programs. All of this stems from incitement.” Leon has a massive mission on his hands, as he must be responsible for revamping the Arab school system- removing the incitement and pro-Palestinian propaganda and establishing normative schools. However this is not enough. True deterrents must be passed in law and implemented swiftly as if not, then copycat attacks are only a matter of time.