Shin Bet says most Palestinian attackers motivated by despair

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office details some of the information that the Shin Bet provided ministers in a briefing this morning on the ongoing wave of violence.

The last few months have seen a “significant decline” in the number of attacks, including in the number of “significant” attacks, the Shin Bet says: 20 “significant” attacks in March as opposed to 78 in October.

The security service attributed the decline to Israeli efforts to foil attacks, along with “effective deterrent action” and “determined activity to counter Palestinian incitement.”

Shin Bet says Israel’s counterterror activity has left the Palestinian public feeling that the “escalation is pointless.”

In a stark departure from the line maintained by Netanyahu – that incitement and Islamist radicalism are the prime drivers of violence – it says that most of the attackers were motivated by “personal issues,” notably “a dire personal or financial situation.”

Only some of the attacks were carried out due to “nationalistic motives,” the ministers hear in the briefing.

Among the attacks foiled, the Shin Bet says, were 25 kidnapping attacks and 15 suicide attacks. It notes Hamas has been trying to carry out such attacks.