The deaths of five Israeli soldiers after a Hizbullah attack in the occupied territory of south Lebanon yesterday, together with the murder of two young West Bank settlers, illustrate how dangerously volatile is the security situation facing the new Prime Minister, Mr Netanyahu, even before he has chosen his cabinet. He was elected on a right wing platform of peace through security, a slogan that appealed to many Israelis fearful for their personal safety after the wave of suicide bombings earlier this year. He has now to deliver on that undertaking, against a popular expectation in the short term that he can prevent such attacks by resolute action.
Arab states are preparing a summit meeting later: this month to consider how to respond to his election. They are fearful that the peace process agreed in Oslo in 1993 is about to unravel. Their fears have been deepened by leaks of Mr Netanyahu's programme in the Israeli media. According to them, he has set his face against giving up the Golan Heights in return ford peace with Syria, will refuse to negotiate a compromise on Jerusalem, will say no to a Palestinian state and encourage more Israeli settlements on the West Bank and Gaza. It is small wonder all the Arab states are apprehensive, while the Syrians are now saying openly that his election will lead to another war.
Mr Netanyahu will rapidly discover that there are, no easy answers in these circumstances. He would be better advised to respond cautiously to such provocations, rather than to take precipitate action that could unleash an uncontrollable chain of events in the region. This would overwhelm the space he needs to determine his longer term policy - the only guarantee that he can deliver a more secure environment for the people who elected him. The signals he sends by his response to the deaths of these seven soldiers and civilians will reverberate wide and long.
It is to be hoped he will also rapidly discover that Israel's security is best guaranteed by establishing some kind of continuity with the agreements already entered into by the outgoing Peres government. The relationship with Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation was politically indispensable for Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres; but because it was entrenched by diplomatic and treaty obligations it cannot be discarded by their successor simply because he has been elected on a different platform.
Who is to rein in Ham as and their supporters if not Mr Arafat? How will he respond to commando raids by Israeli forces, let alone to increased settlements? Is it not to be expected that he will seek to test Mr Netanyahu's mettle rather than relinquish popular support and credibility? How would the Lebanese, Hizbollah and Syria respond to a rerun of the Operation Grapes of Wrath bombardment, which backfired on Mr Peres? So far, there is precious little sign that the incoming Israeli government is willing to explore an accommodating rather than a confrontational path. Mr Netanyahu is more than usually bound by the letter of his campaign pledges. The political shape of his cabinet appointments and the response to these attacks and this outrage are being watched closely by an anxious world.