And so Israel must be prepared to face more atrocities like Sunday’s bus-stop explosions near Netanya, north of Tel Aviv. A furious and frustrated Israeli public knows that all too well. In such a climate, the natural response is to demand ac-countability. Rabin was in deep poli-tical trouble before the weekend mas-sacre. A renewed sense of national vulnerability puts his future in greater jeopardy, and along with it the pro-cess that has already begun to trans-form the Middle East.

At issue, of course, is not only Ra-bin’s political survival but Yasser Arafat’s and the whole of the peace process. Islamic Jihad, Hamas and similar fringe groups violently reject the implicit premises on which the success of that process rests:the need for mutual territorial and political compromises. Israel’s right wing similarly rejects these premises. If terrorism wins, then all that Israelis and Palestinians will again be able to look forward to is an era devoid of hope and filled only with greater tensions, hatred and increased blood-shed.

This editorial appeared in Tues-day’s Los Angeles Times.

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