A lone wolf on the run

The leading Hebrew papers devote a large portion of their coverage this morning to the murder of 25-year-old Danny Gonen, an Israeli man shot Friday in an apparent “lone-wolf”-style terrorist attack near the West Bank settlement of Dolev, northwest of Jerusalem. Aside from mourning the loss of life, and describing the events that led up to the shooting, the Hebrew press, it seems, is determined to reassure readers that the assault was an isolated incident and does not reflect a change or escalation in the overall security situation throughout the West Bank. All papers stress, however, that the shooter is still at large.

“The terrorist signaled Danny to stop, then shot 10 bullets,” reads Yedioth Ahronoth‘s headline, highlighting the arbitrariness and senselessness of the attack. The papers stresses that while Hamas was quick to claim the murder as its own work, Israeli security forces nevertheless believe that shooting was not pre-planned by any terror group and was carried out by a gunman acting of his own accord. The paper goes on to quote Gonen’s relatives, who describe the 25-year-old student as the “family’s central pillar.” Gonen’s corneas, the daily continues, were donated at his family’s request and will likely be transplanted to hospital patients in the coming days.

Israel Hayom also leads with Gonen’s murder, but shifts its focus to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the attack. “We cannot let the relative quiet fool us,” the Israeli leader warns in the paper’s underline. “The attempts to harm us continue.”

As part of the extensive two-page spread on the Dolev attack, the daily’s analyst Yoav Limor delves into what he calls the “challenge of the lone wolf,” offering an insight into the difficulties faced by the IDF in its attempts to prevent future killings by assailants not affiliated with a specific terrorist organization. “Despite all efforts, the Shin Bet security service and the army have as of yet failed to find an effective method which would allow them to expect or terminate the plans of a loner, who acts in a different manner,” he writes.

These attacks, Limor elaborates, do not necessarily indicate a future uprising within the Palestinian population living in cities and villages across the West Bank, nor do they signal that terrorist groups are plotting a major escalation in the region. The Israeli security establishment is currently faced with a problem, he continues, since while waging a full-fledged operation at this time to root out “lone wolf” terrorists may prove effective in curbing isolated attacks, such an undertaking may be perceived by ordinary Palestinians as an unnecessary provocation and lead to increased malicious activities by terrorist cells in the long run. Nevertheless, Limor concludes, the recent events obligate the IDF to act against lone attackers, in order to “punish, but more importantly, to prevent” future shootings.

Haaretz dedicates a fair share of its front page to the deadly attack in Dolev as well, but leads with a follow up to a late May report regarding an area designated for new Jewish settlement near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, which had been purchased by a Swedish company and then sold to right wing activists. Reporter Chaim Levinson says that Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has approved the renovation of a church compound along Route 60, close to the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Aroub. The church has already been renovated in recent months by a Swedish body presenting itself as a Christian organization. While the body insists that the renovations have been undertaken with Christian pilgrims in mind, documents acquired by Levinson show that plans have been made to convert the compound into a Jewish settlement in the future.

Haaretz’s main editorial reverts back to last week’s torching of the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the Sea of Galilee, in what police suspect to have been a “price tag” attack. The term “price tag” is used by Jewish extremists to describe vandalism or attacks typically carried out against non-Jews or their property, ostensibly as retribution for Palestinian attacks or Israeli government actions deemed contrary to settler interests. The paper urges authorities not to spare any efforts in an attempt to locate the perpetrators of the attack. “Church burners are also terrorists,” the editorial’s head announces. “The Israeli government would not let the torching of a synagogue, or the breaking of Jewish headstones at a cemetery, go by silently, and rightfully so… now it is time [for the government] to show determination and eliminate the hate crimes within its borders, and define those who carry them out as terrorists who threaten Israel’s security no less than those who send booby-trapped vehicles into city centers.”

Finally, to conclude with some softer news amid all the depressing headlines in today’s papers, Yedioth reports that Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein of the Likud party is “in love” once again, a-year-and-a-half after his wife’s sudden passing. Fifty-five-year-old Edelstein has been reportedly seeing Irina Nevzlin, chair of the Board of Directors of Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People, for quite some time now. The two met over ten years ago while working on projects relating to the Jewish diaspora, but have recently elevated their friendship to a more romantic relationship, according to Yedioth. The paper reports that since the two have started going out, “the light has returned to Edelstein’s eyes.”