Israel praises Palestinians for helping foil terrorists

The prime minister praised the Palestinian efforts, but added a caveat.

"They took one step. We absolutely praise it. But there are still many things that have not been done," he said. "They are not acting systematically and there is still the revolving-door phenomenon in which they release murderers of Jews."

Netanyahu confirmed he had telephoned Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to thank him for the Palestinian Authority's aid. Israeli security sources said the call took place three weeks ago.

Sufian Abu Zaydeh, the Palestinian Authority official in charge of liaison with Israel, was quoted as saying on Tuesday that "there haven't been any attacks for several months, and this is not due to the General Security Service [Shin Bet] or Netanyahu, but because the Palestinian Authority must foil these attacks -- not only for Israel's sake, but also for the sake of the authority itself."