On Monday, Israel sent hundreds of soldiers to the occupied West Bank after a Palestinian gunman killed two Israelis and settlers while burning homes and vehicles in a Palestinian town.
The reactions to the violent exposed some separation in Israel’s new traditional government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging calm while a member of his ruling partnership praised the violent as a check to Palestinian attacks.
The events also highlighted the limitations of the traditional US approach to the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Washington has tried to avoid growth while avoiding the politically costly task of a resolution of the core disputes.
The events of Sunday began when a Palestinian gunman surprised and killed brothers Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, aged 21 and 19, from the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha. Following the shooting, groups of settlers out of control through Hawara’s main through rout, which is used by both Palestinians and Israeli settlers.