So what did we have last year? It began in the Passover massacre, and a series of suicide attacks. The attack on the Passover night shocked thousands of Israelis who watched it during their Seder. IDF had to respond. The attacks managed to unite the Israeli people behind the army’s operation, and the reserve units that were recruited for the operation had an extraordinary morale, and very few dodgers.

The Palestinian cities were occupied one after another, in the biggest counter-terrorism measure taken in the intifadah. It had created many crises, like the siege over the nativity church in Bethlehem and the isolation of Arafat at the Mukataa in Ramallah. There were fierce battles in Nablus too.

However the best remembered issue was Jenin. It had the fiercest battle of them all, which left bad impressions on both sides. The Palestinians declared hundreds of dead, and are still claiming there was a massacre there. This claim is totally wrong. The final death toll was 56 on their side, over half of them armed. Now how could it be a massacre? Around 20 unarmed people in a dense refugee camp is a reasonable toll for such an urban fight, and it was a tough one. Israel suffered there too, with 23 dead soldiers, including 13 in one day. The ambush in which they were killed led to the clearing of the camp with D-9 bulldozers.

The Netania hotel attack and the Jenin battle came just after a peace initiative by the Arab league. But since the Passover massacre and the initiative took place on the same day, it became irrelevant. No one would talk peace when the terror attacks were at the peak.

The current situation, before the Passover, is amazingly similar to what was last year. Another initiative, this time an American one, which enjoys my full support. Will it be more relevant? Maybe the Seder night will make it clear. Another terror attack on the Seder will render the roadmap useless. This is something we don’t want to see.