Palestinians and their supporters on Sunday celebrated the anniversary of Israel’s founding with large-scale incursions on three of Israel’s borders and a suspected terrorist attack in Tel Aviv.

Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip were breached by Israel’s enemies yesterday in what some analysts see as a coordinated attack that caught the Jews by surprise. Some 15 people were killed and dozens wounded in the clashes.

On the Syrian border, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the fence. By 1:30 in the afternoon, hundreds of Syrians, Palestinians and Hezbollah members had managed to enter the main square of the Golan village of Majd al Shams and hoist Syrian and Palestinian flags. debkafile reports that they were able to freely cross the border, with Israeli military reinforcements not arriving until 5 p.m. Masses of protesters also tried to break through on the border with Lebanon, forcing Israeli troops to open fire in defense.

Demonstrations in Gaza turned violent when hundreds of protesters marched on the Erez Crossing and one protester attempted to plant a roadside bomb. There were also large demonstrations in the West Bank and smaller clashes in East Jerusalem. A group of protesters in Jordan who were trying to reach the border were stopped by police.

Earlier in the day, in Tel Aviv, an Arab Israeli went on a truck rampage that killed one person and injured 17. While the driver claims it was an accident, the evidence says otherwise: He continued for two kilometers, swerving left and right in an apparent attempt to hit as many vehicles and pedestrians as possible. After hitting a traffic light, he got out of the truck and used a piece of the wreckage to attack passersby before being overpowered. Eyewitnesses said he shouted “Allahu Akbar!” (Allah is the greatest) as he drove the truck.

Israeli police have thus far declined to label the incident as an act of terror, though police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, “Based on the level of destruction … it looks as if this was deliberate—but the investigation is still ongoing.”

The terrorist attack and the protests occurred on Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, a day of mourning to Palestinians marking the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. Though protests take place each year on this day, the wave of demonstrations yesterday was unprecedented and marked the first time demonstrators have breached the Israeli border. For several weeks leading up to Nakba Day, pro-Palestinian groups had conducted an Internet campaign calling for “a third Palestinian intifada,” or armed uprising.

The Israel Defense Forces claim Iran was behind the border attacks. “We are seeing here an Iranian provocation, on both the Syrian and the Lebanese frontiers, to try to exploit the Nakba Day commemorations,” idf spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said.

The Syrian regime was also accused of instigating or allowing the crisis to divert attention from its violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators. “The Syrian regime (was) attempting to divert world attention from their brutal crackdown and to incite violence on the Israel-Syrian border,” Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the violent demonstrations as an attempt to undermine the existence of the Jewish state.

“We hope calm and quiet will quickly return. But let nobody be misled: We are determined to defend our borders and our sovereignty,” the prime minister said. “It is important to note that the events were held on a day that marked the establishment of the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu said the organizers of the violent events themselves have explained that “their struggle is not for the ’67 line,” but rather an attempt to undermine the very existence of Israel, whose creation they have described as a disaster that must be corrected.

“The popular uprisings sweeping through Arab countries confirmed these anti-Israel forces [Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and Turkey] in their conviction that massed civilians when wielded as a surprise weapon can achieve more than armies or individual terrorists,” writes debkafile. “Crowds of civilians activated on several synchronized fronts are extremely difficult to withstand.”

The Wall Street Journal notes that the protests suggest that “the wave of popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world are turning toward Israel. … Palestinians and their regional sympathizers appear to be seizing on a newfound enthusiasm for popular protest and civil disobedience to make such tactics the cornerstone of their struggle against Israel.”

Local commanders and police chiefs, however, were directed to deal with all fronts “with maximum restraint while defending Israel’s borders and sovereignty.”

The military restraint that is Israel’s policy will only encourage further aggression by Palestinians and their foreign sponsors.

Watch for tensions between the Palestinians and Jews to increase as the Arabs grow stronger—and for Israel to eventually seek international help in controlling the situation.