But his highly public statements were the first to draw an Israeli response.
The message was that any attack on Israelis would be followed by a strong Israeli response.
A movie about the Israeli response to this was made called Munich.
Under the circumstances, an Israeli military response was inevitable.
But he chose his words with precision, steering clear of questions about whether the Israeli response had been appropriate.
They had expected a strong Israeli response to any terrorist acts.
And because both sides would have to say yes, the Israeli response effectively knocked out this proposal, for now anyway.
Still, the Israeli response to the attack today was relatively restrained.
But the officials had said that a second attack could significantly increase the likelihood of an Israeli response.
But we must also understand the Israeli response to the current situation.