Israel’s VIP Protection Unit has warned Israeli government ministers that they should not travel on Road 443 due to escalating terror attacks. Those attacks include stones, firebombs, and a roadside bomb that was neutralized before it could explode, according to a report on Israel Army Radio this morning.
Road 443 is the second main highway connecting Jerusalem, Israel’s capital to Tel Aviv, Israel’s financial center.
When the Supreme Court ordered, just over 3 years ago, that parts of Road 443 be reopened to traffic by Palestinian Authority citizens, the more grounded Israelis warned that the road would return to being the terror zone it was before it was closed off to PA traffic and terrorism.
Before Road 443 was closed, six Israelis had been killed and more injured by Palestinian Authority Arab attacks on Jews travelling on the road.
Those on the left claimed that these Israelis were being paranoid and exaggerating (remember the warning about rockets on Israel from Gaza, before the disengagement).
It wasn’t long after Road 443 was reopened that the stone throwing attacks began again and escalated to the level it is now.
It raises the obvious question, since we know what prevents these terror attacks on Road 443, why are Israeli ministers being warned from traveling on the road, instead of the government resolving the terror problem the way it knows that works.