On Thursday night, Israel narrowly avoided a massacre. Explosives planted on buses in Bat Yam, intended to detonate during the Friday morning rush hour, could have killed or maimed hundreds of innocent civilians.
That did not happen – not because of a change in our enemies’ intentions, but due to a technical failure on their part.
“This is a large-scale incident and we are deployed to a large number of locations,” said Tel Aviv Police District Commander Asst.-Ch. Haim Sargaroff. We must look at this moment not with relief, but with the clarity that this was an attack that, in its intent, already succeeded.
The perpetrators must be hunted down, and those responsible – whether in the West Bank, Gaza, or Tehran – must face the consequences.
Betrayed by Israeli citizens
What makes this incident all the more appalling is the revelation that two Israeli Jews facilitated the terrorists’ actions, driving them to the attack sites.
“At this stage, there are no conclusive findings,” stated the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), but the reality is already clear. These individuals are not misguided criminals or radicalized fringe elements; they are accomplices to attempted mass murder. Their betrayal of Israel and its people demands the harshest punishment available under the law. There can be no leniency, no appeals for understanding. If they were willing to help terrorists, they should be treated as such.
As The Jerusalem Post reported, “The initial assessment from the security establishment is that the plan for the attack came from Iran, and was carried out by Hamas terrorists from the West Bank.
“The Shin Bet identified Iranian involvement in the West Bank by supplying weapons, training terrorists to carry out attacks, and assembling explosive devices.” If true, this is not merely a localized terror attack – it is part of a broader strategy by Iran to destabilize Israel through its proxies.
“The revenge of the martyrs will not be forgotten as long as the occupier is present on our land,” stated Hamas’s Tulkarm battalion, although not claiming actual responsibility for the attacks. The connection between Iranian funding and the terrorist networks operating in Judea and Samaria cannot be ignored.
As Herb Keinon wrote in his comment, “Israel cannot – must not – rely on miracles. That is one of the lessons of October 7... A nation that breathes a sigh of relief every time a terrorist’s bomb malfunctions is a nation at perpetual risk.”
This must be our guiding principle. A strategy that merely responds after the fact is inadequate; every attempted attack must be treated as if it had succeeded, and those responsible must be held accountable.
Furthermore, Transportation Minister Miri Regev emphasized the need for immediate security measures, stating that all public transportation must undergo rigorous inspection to prevent similar attacks. “We are halting all buses, trains, and light rail trains in order to check for further possible explosive devices,” she announced. This level of precaution is necessary, but it is not a long-term solution. The key lies in intelligence operations and preventive strikes against terror cells before they can act.
“We must exact a heavy price that the terrorist organizations will not forget,” said National Unity Party head Benny Gantz.
The Shin Bet’s arrest of two Jewish-Israeli suspects linked to the attack is an alarming wake-up call. While collaboration with terrorists by Israeli citizens is rare, it must be treated with absolutely zero tolerance. “This was a serious and shocking event,” Bat Yam Mayor Zvika Brot said, adding that the city is working in close coordination with security forces to ensure that such an atrocity does not happen again.
We saved lives this time, but we may not be so fortunate next time.
“This incident should be treated like a mega-attack,” Gantz warned. Israel must act accordingly. A powerful, unambiguous response is not just necessary for deterrence – it is the only way to ensure that such an attack never comes close to succeeding again. The survival of Israel depends on unwavering vigilance and a willingness to confront evil head on. Iran and its proxies must understand that their attempts to terrorize Israeli civilians will lead not to fear, but to their own destruction.