Breaking News NEWS

Israelis Distrust Summer of Calm

Published by on August 11, 2009

JERUSALEM — Rocket fire from Gaza has markedly declined. The Lebanese border is quiet. Terrorist attacks from the West Bank are rare. The national airport processed a record number of travelers in the first week of August. The currency is so strong that the central bank has bought billions of dollars to keep the exchange rate down.

Skip to next paragraph

Enlarge This Image

Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times

Shlomi Belfand, 50, from BeerSheba enjoys a swim near the border with Gaza , one of the most beautiful in Israel he says; Israeli vacationers here enjoy the calm after rockets from Gaza has declined.

Israel is flourishing this summer, and one might imagine its people and leaders to be breathing a sigh of relief after nearly a decade of violence and unease. That, however, is far from the case. On every front, Israel is worried that it is living a false calm that could explode at any moment. Its airwaves and public discourse are filled with menace and concern.“This is a deceptive quiet,” said Daniel Ayalon, the deputy foreign minister in an interview. “When a sunny day turns cloudy, it can happen very quickly.”This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that if, as expected, Hezbollah joined the government being formed in Lebanon, any attack on Israel from Lebanese territory would be seen as the responsibility of the Beirut government. “It cannot hide and say, ‘It’s Hezbollah, we don’t control them,’

Readers Rating: