Ignore West Bank Killings at Israel’s Risk

By Bruce S. Ticker

PHILADELPHIA — As Jewish leaders and show-biz celebs pondered the use of a prosthetic nose in a film portrayal of composer Leonard Bernstein, three Israelis were gunned down by terrorists along a West Bank highway and outside a gas station.

Philadelphia Jews might well be surprised that preschool teacher Batsheva Nigri, accompanied by her 12-year-old daughter, was fatally shot while a passenger in a car traveling along a West Bank road, and Shay Nigreker and his son, Aviad Nir, were shot to death while at a gas station near Nablus, also in the West Bank.

Neither incident was reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer or the city’s Jewish Exponent, the two primary sources of news for Jews in my hometown. All three were killed Saturday and Monday, Aug. 19 and 21, which some years ago was sufficient time for at least Saturday’s tragedy to make the deadlines of a Jewish weekly’s print deadline.

The New York Times reported on their deaths half a week after the first killings when two Palestinians were shot in separate incidents on Monday and Tuesday; it was unclear of their medical conditions. One story chronicled all these episodes last Wednesday. The story resembled a false equivalency article. Accounts of the apparently wounded Arabs came first, and reporting on the dead Israelis followed later in the article.

The talk of the town in America and even London was whether Bradley Cooper, who is not Jewish, should wear a prosthetic nose to better resemble Bernstein in the forthcoming film “Maestro.” Articles and letters to the editor appeared in The New York Times, and The Jewish Chronicle of London published two commentaries on “Maestro” last week. Cooper’s preparation is a legitimate concern, but still a sideshow in the roster of Jewish issues.

What happens in the West Bank could decide Israel’s fate. The 40-year-old Nigri and the father and son are among the latest victims of Palestinian terrorism. Periodically, Israelis who live in or visit Israel’s eastern territories are murdered by Arab terrorists.

I can recall at least three other drive-by shootings and three home break-ins that resulted in the deaths of a 13-year-old girl resting in her room and the murders of friends and relatives who gathered for a Shabbat dinner. There was a male teen-ager who was killed exploring the area near his home.

Two soldiers were caught by Palestinians when they made a wrong turn into an Arab town. Killing them was not sufficient. Their bodies were torn up.

These episodes, and many others, prove that Israel does not provide sufficient protection for West Bank residents or the soldiers deployed to protect them. Several years ago, I was reading about Israeli soldiers killed or wounded in fighting in the West Bank and Gaza, and I whispered to myself, “They better get out of there.”

Israel forced Israelis out of Gaza in 2005. That meant no repeat there of a mother and her daughters who were stopped on a road in Gaza and massacred by Arab terrorists. Nor a repeat of stabbing deaths of three soldiers who were killed by a terrorist who snuck into their barracks. That’s another story, of course.

Israel’s endeavor to build communities in its territories is understandable. After Israel was attacked in 1967, its troops sacrificed their lives to seize Gaza and the West Bank. Why not develop these communities on land which many Israelis claim belongs to Israel?

Is it wise? Israelis who move to those areas are endangered. So are soldiers who are deployed there.

So far this year, 33 Israelis have been killed in Arab attacks, with two-thirds of them occurring in or near these communities or on highways in the West Bank, according to the Times.

Israel proposed an independent Palestinian state 23 years ago, and then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat rejected it. Later negotiations broke off in 2014 with no explanation.

Another problem: Israel’s so-called occupation makes its control of the West Bank ungovernable. Many Arabs have already responded with murderous acts. How can Israel expect them to respect Israeli laws?

Most Israelis and other supporters of Israel can automatically remind us that Hamas and other terrorists routinely lob missiles into Israel and even attempt attacks along the border.

They are right. Israel gave up all control of Gaza when it evacuated both civilians and soldiers, leaving Israel vulnerable to attacks from Gaza. Perhaps Israel should have maintained a military presence, but it is too late now.

So what to do at this point? The current government’s plan to expand housing and annex the West Bank should be scrapped.

We can hope that more sensible leaders are elected to control Parliament’s majority, while Israel and the Palestinians return to serious negotiations.