Israeli security agencies were on maximum alert throughout the country Monday following a string of terrorist attacks over the weekend which continued Monday. Two Israeli Border Police officers were severely wounded Monday morning by a Palestinian terrorist wielding a knife. He was shot by nearby officers and was also listed in critical condition at an area hospital. Later on Monday, another attack was attempted at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, leaving one officer lightly wounded and one terrorist dead with the other being wounded.

An IDF Iron Dome air defense battery stationed on the Golan Heights intercepted two incoming projectiles Saturday, assessed by the IDF to be stray fire from battles between Assad regime forces and rebel factions on the other side of the border. The incident came amidst major developments in the Syrian conflict, including a strike by US-led coalition aircraft Saturday which killed dozens of Assad-regime loyalist troops.

The Balad Party, which is part of the Joint (Arab) List faction in the Knesset, saw 20 members of its party apparatus arrested by Israeli police Sunday on charges of conspiracy to commit campaign funding fraud. The charges specify that the Party falsely reported the origins of millions of shekels in donations raised in Israel and abroad. Balad flatly denied the charges, saying the arrests were part of “the campaign of political persecution against the Arab minority, in general, and the political movements, in particular.”

Israeli Paralympians ended the 2016 Games in Rio and returned to Israel Monday with a total of three medals, including a bronze collected by swimmer Inbal Pezaro in the women’s SM5 200m individual medley final over the weekend.

A number of democracies have been forced to grapple with the moral dilemmas of waging a war with terrorism. Some European leaders have now turned to Israel to learn how to combat terrorism without compromising their commitment to the freedoms of an open society.