The Terrorist PA

On the face of it, Monday's suicide bombing near Tel Aviv's defunct central bus terminal wasn't very different from numerous previous terrorist outrages. Indeed the very eatery targeted had been hit before, only a few months ago.

But there are differences, perhaps not fundamental but hardly inconsequential.

This was the first suicide bombing carried out under the aegis of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, the terrorist PA. When previous atrocities were perpetrated, the PA - from whose bailiwick the mass-murderers set out, where they were brainwashed and trained and where the infrastructure for their operations flourished - issued obligatory wan denunciations of the deeds. This was done despite, or perhaps precisely because, power was held by Fatah, whose own members - particularly those in the Tanzim and the Aksa Martyrs Brigades - carried out some of the worst onslaughts on Israelis non-combatants.