Israel’s US Ambassador: Bennett No Longer Leading Ukraine-Russia Mediation

Freed from his role as globetrotting mediator, the prime minister instead has been dealing with an increasingly complex set of problems at home, including a spate of deadly Arab terror attacks, both from Israeli Arabs and Palestinian Arabs in Israel illegally. Herzog brushed aside the notion that the attacks have been coordinated, even as three of the terrorists involved had known ties and loyalties to the Islamic State.

“We had a wave of lone attackers a few years back and managed to deal with it. And I’m confident that this time, too, that our security forces will deal with it properly,” said Herzog, as he chided Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas for blaming Israel for actions in defense of its citizens, including operations by the Israel Defense Forces inside P.A. territory in order to apprehend suspects.

“It is regrettable that the Palestinian leadership throws fuel on the fire. We didn’t start these attacks,” stated Herzog. “They were perpetrated by people who went into the heart of Israel and killed innocent civilians, and I would expect the Palestinian leadership to issue stronger condemnations and not just accuse our forces.”

Still, Herzog said that the Islamic State’s ties to the current wave of terror in Israel shouldn’t be overlooked, even if ISIS involvement is on a purely inspirational plane. He pointed to the height of the global conflict with ISIS a few years ago, when only a few Israeli or P.A. citizens went to join the terrorist group.

“There was no great impact. But still, I would say they inspire some people to go out and try to kill civilians. That was the case here, and we should be on the alert.”