Some Israeli analysts have called for the cancellation of work permits for Gazans.
“Foiling terrorist attacks and chasing perpetrators will not do the job,” said Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based analyst for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israel think tank.
“We need to deal with the climate of encouraging terrorists, so when Sinwar calls on Palestinians to take butchers’ knives and kill Israelis,” Mr. Yaari said, referring to the Hamas figure, “we have to respond by suspending measures intended to alleviate the economic conditions in Gaza.”
However, a Palestinian backlash could lead to a military escalation that might further destabilize Mr. Bennett’s politically diverse coalition, which includes a small Islamist party. The coalition has already lost its razor-thin majority in Parliament. The opposition could try to topple the government with a preliminary vote to dissolve Parliament as early as this week, when lawmakers return from recess.
As an immediate measure, Mr. Bennett said that he planned to establish a civilian national guard to improve security in Israel’s cities. And the police announced a crackdown on Palestinian workers from the West Bank who enter Israel without the required permit, as well as on those Israelis who transport them, employ them and provide them with lodging.
Israeli officials said that one of the victims of Thursday’s ax attack in Elad, Oren Ben-Yiftah, 35, a deliveryman, had given the attackers a ride to the town from the boundary between Israel and the West Bank. Mr. Ben-Yiftah, a father of six from Lod, Israel, apparently believed that the pair were going to work in Elad.
After arriving in the town, the assailants killed Mr. Ben-Yiftah in his car then ran into a park, where they terrorized families who were celebrating Israel’s Independence Day. There they killed Boaz Gol, 49, and Yonatan Havakuk, 44, residents of Elad who each had five children, and wounded several other men.
Ronen Bergman contributed reporting from Tel Aviv, and Myra Noveck from Jerusalem.
