Perhaps he had prior warning, or perhaps he just possesses some prophetic ability. But Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tragically predicted a piece of news that broke today (March 31, 2001).
Israel’s police have announced the discovery of a bomb-making facility at Jaljuliya in central Israel.
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Speaking on a tour of the buffer zone currently being built along the Green Line, that separates pre- and post-1967 Israel, Sharon warned of the increase in Israeli-Arab terrorism.
While the number of Israeli-Arabs involved in terrorism is tiny, it is growing, Sharon said. It is only a matter of time before some Israeli-Arabs try to carry out suicide bombings. Iran is behind this movement, he said.
The writing was perhaps on the wall this weekend, when thousands of Israeli-Arabs gathered in Umm El-Fahm in northern Israel to show support for Saddam Hussein. “Bomb Tel Aviv,” they cried.
Then today, the police revealed the arrest of three Israeli-Arabs who were behind the bomb-making plant. They were reportedly working under the directions of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The question of the loyalty of Israel’s Arab minority is as old as the state. It is true that the Arabs are not treated as equal citizens, be it in the eyes of the law or be it in active discrimination. However, that begs an egg-and-chicken question: Which came first, the discrimination or the Arab violence towards the Israeli-Jews?
Either way, the Israeli-Arab population will find itself increasingly marginalized, the more some of its number turn to violence and terrorism to make their point.