Number of Terror Attacks in Israel Drops Significantly

Image by Getty Images

By JTA February 12, 2016

The number of terrorist attacks recorded in Israel last month decreased by 32 percent over December, bringing the total to a level that was last observed prior to September’s escalation in violence.

The Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, documented 169 terrorist attacks by Palestinians on Israelis in January, compared to 246 such incidents the previous month, Shin Bet wrote in its monthly report, which it published earlier this week.

It is the first time since July that the number of attacks dropped below the 171 mark observed in August, according to Shin Bet’s figures. In September, October and November, Shin Bet recorded 223, 620 and 326 attacks respectively.

In October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the escalation “a terror wave.” It was widely referred to in Israel and Palestinian media as “the third intifada.”

While the overall number of attacks diminished, they proved deadlier last month than in August and July, when no Israelis died as a result of terrorist attacks and fewer than 10 were wounded. Five Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks last month, compared to only three in December and one person in September. In November and December, 11 and 10 Israelis died in such attacks, respectively.

Dozens of Palestinians were also killed during the escalation, many of them by security forced or armed civilians while they were carrying out attacks.

Of the 169 incidents recorded in January, 136 involved the hurling of firebombs at soldiers or civilians.

Separately, Netanyahu on Thursday announced he had decided to promote Shin Bet Deputy Director Nadav Argaman, 55, to head the organization. Argaman, who entered the Shin Bet in 1983, had served as the domestic security organization’s liaison to the United States in the years 2007-2011.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO