Israel has made several gestures to advance the newest detente with the Palestinians. It released 500 Palestinian prisoners last week and has promised to release 400 more within three months. The Israeli military announced that it had stopped its policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinian attackers and their families, and it also halted its targeted killing of senior Palestinian militants.
But officials have consistently said that such measures are contingent upon Abbas and the Palestinians reining in and disarming militant groups.
Abbas had pledged to track down those responsible for the bombing, the Associated Press reported. "The Palestinian Authority will not stand silent in the face of this act of sabotage," he said in a statement after an emergency meeting with his security chiefs. "We will follow and track down those responsible, and they will be punished accordingly."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement that such attacks "not only kill innocent civilians, but also undermine the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people. It is essential that Palestinian leaders take immediate, credible steps to find those responsible for this terrorist attack and bring them to justice."
While suicide bombings are the hallmark of the Palestinian uprising, their frequency has declined dramatically as the conflict has dragged on and Israel has implemented tough policies aimed at preventing such attacks. The government is building a security barrier through and around the Palestinian-populated West Bank to prevent would-be attackers from entering Israel, and the Israeli military has killed or arrested hundreds of militant leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian fatigue with the conflict, pressure from countries such as Egypt and the United States and the election of Abbas also have led Palestinian groups to curtail the use of suicide bombers, according to Palestinian politicians and political analysts.
The last suicide bombing inside Israel occurred on Nov. 1 in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market. Three people were killed. On Jan. 18, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security post at Gush Katif Junction in the Gaza Strip, killing one officer.
Friday's bombing was strikingly similar to one of the deadliest attacks of the Palestinians' 4 1/2-year-old uprising, the June 1, 2001, suicide bombing that killed 21 people and wounded more than 120 outside the Dolphinarium nightclub, just eight blocks south of the Stage.
The Stage, a popular karaoke spot, had four security guards posted at the entrance Friday night, and all of the dead and injured were outside, according to Tel Aviv's police commander, David Tzur. "We can say that the guards did their best," Tzur said. "They prevented the terrorist from entering inside and in that way prevented a greater tragedy."
