In many ways these are the best and worst of times for Israelis. A decade ago their main fear was an invasion from and through Syria, but with the Syrians fighting among themselves they are no longer seen as a major threat. The Islamic State, or ISIS, has, in a sense, helped them. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that all those fighting are focused on killing each other rather than destroying Israel, so Israelis can focus on other threats.

sraelis, of course, continue to see Iran as the long-term enemy. Unlike President Obama, they believe the Iranians when they say they want to destroy Israel and kill the Jews who live there. That scares them both because it is now clear that their sworn enemy will get the bomb the mullahs want and because the recent U.S. agreement with Tehran frees up billions of dollars to finance terrorist attacks on Israel.

Terrorism can take many forms, from rocket attacks to the infiltration of fighters through the sorts of tunnels the Palestinians have constructed in the past to the individual knife attacks that have been taking place in recent weeks. None of these pose the sort of threat that was posed by Syria in past years or that may be developing from Tehran, but they are disruptive and force the Israeli government to continue to expend billions on its military and security force.

Surprisingly, however, when one talks to Israeli officials they don’t spend as much time as one might expect worrying about an internal threat from those Muslims living within her borders. Israel’s 10 million inhabitants include something like 1.8 million Muslims, most but not all of whom are Israeli citizens. They mostly live in their own neighborhoods and face conflicting pressures from their neighbors, co-religionists and the Jewish state in which they live and work. It can’t be easy, but in most ways they know they are better off in Israel than if they were under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

In a psychic sense at least, many sympathize with the plight of their Palestinian brothers and sisters. But that sympathy rarely translates into action against Israel itself. There are a few small pockets of active support for the Palestinian cause. But few Israeli Muslims seem anxious to risk the lives they lead as Israeli citizens.