Another bulldozer has struck at a busy intersection in Jerusalem. The driver, an Arab-Israeli from East Jerusalem, went on a rampage slamming cars and pedestrians, injuring 16, before he was gunned down by a citizen and a border policeman. I drove through that intersection yesterday, not far from the King David Hotel where diplomats and wealthy tourists congregate.

It is always the second hit that causes the harshest response. In June 2006, the soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas, but it was only when Hizbollah repeated the trick a few weeks later, kidnapping Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, that Israel unleashed its army on southern Lebanon. The first hit, one figures, might just be a one-off. The second represents a new strategic reality.

Israel will respond now to tractor terror because it has to. When the problem was coming from terror organizations across the border, the answer was war. But now it looks like copycat terror coming from individual Arabs who no longer need bomb belts to do their work. This time, the answer will likely come in the form of much harsher restrictions on access to heavy equipment. A lot of people will either be out of work or need to go through careful security checks. Construction in Jerusalem may be temporarily halted. The biggest victim, as with other terror, will be the population that produces these monsters and encourages them, and in so doing positions itself as an enemy of the society that pays for its infrastructure, schools, and welfare.

Israel will be painted as the racist oppressor, yet again, for the simple reason that it does not have the luxury of putting PR before personal security. But the Arab community in Israel needs to take some responsibility for its own bad apples. They can start by dumping their current political leadership and electing officials who support Israel and the country’s efforts to live a safe life. Any new clarifications on Jerusalem, Barack?