Israel’s borders under terror attack

A new spate of terrorist attacks on Israel – including the heaviest rocket bombardment from Lebanon since 2006 – underlines the urgency of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finding a compromise to end the divisions in Israeli society caused by his contentious judicial reform plan.

Two weeks ago Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned “external threats” against the Jewish state “were rising because Israel’s enemies smelled internal weakness” in months of street demonstrations against the reforms. “Iran is closer than ever to gaining military nuclear capabilities,” he said. “Palestinian terrorism is increasing. The northern arena is tense. These days, more than ever, we face unprecedented security challenges.”

Recent days have shown the prescience of Mr Gallant’s warnings. Rocket bombardments have targeted Israel not only from Lebanon but also from Gaza. The attacks raise the spectre of a multi-front conflict by Iran and its terrorist proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and others – aimed at bringing conflict to Israel’s borders.

Reports emerged on Sunday of a phone call between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in which each spoke of the “approaching collapse” of Israel. Mr Raisi referred to Israel showing signs of “weakness and desperation” while Assad, known as the Butcher of Damascus, talked about “signs of collapse in the Zionist society”, The Times of Israel reported. Such claims are humbug.

But they are the by-product of 12 weeks of street protests against Mr Netanyahu’s judicial reforms. So is much of the upsurge in violence that has coincided with Passover, Ramadan and Easter, including a car-ramming Arab-Israeli terrorist attack on the seafront in Tel Aviv that killed a 35-year-old Italian lawyer and injured seven others. Two British-Israeli sisters, 20 and 15, were killed and their mother seriously wounded when their car was fired on in the West Bank.

Tumult at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, showing Israeli police apparently beating Palestinians has added to fears that Israelis are confronting a new security crisis.

Retaliatory Israeli artillery and airstrikes against terrorist targets in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza are justified. So is the emergency call-up of thousands of military and police reservists. That, however, highlights the need for Mr Netanyahu to find a compromise over his judicial reforms. With reservists among those who have joined the protests, Mr Gallant, whose resignation has not been accepted by Mr Netanyahu, warned the judicial overhaul was causing “a growing rift in our society”.