JERUSALEM'Israel was confronted by the brutal truth of its security Wednesday: Even the invasion of Palestinian cities, the destruction of its government infrastructure, and killings and arrests have not protected its civilians from terror.
Any semblance of safety nurtured here through 13 days of Israeli military takeover of the West Bank evaporated when a Palestinian suicide bomber managed to penetrate the country's heartland, killing eight commuters, injuring at least 14, and turning a packed bus into a grotesque metal skeleton.
The suicide bombing at a busy intersection near the northern city of Haifa was the first in more than a week and came a day before Secretary of State Colin Powell was to arrive in Jerusalem. The radical group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The impact of the attack was painfully obvious to some of those who witnessed it, so close to a late March suicide bombing at a restaurant in the city, in which 15 people died.
