R’ Avi Shafran, Agudah’s director of public affairs, forwarded the following comments:

Jews don’t dance in the streets and fire weapons in celebration when their enemies die, but it would be disingenuous to say that there shouldn’t be a feeling of gratitude to G-d in Jewish hearts for the passing from the scene of a man responsible for the murder of so many innocents. One thing is certain: the world is a better place today than it was yesterday.

Our gratification, though, is tempered by the fact that, unlike when Hitler or Stalin died and their reigns of terror largely perished with them, there is no assurance that Mr. Arafat’s passing will bring any positive change in the calculus of Palestinian terror. But we hope and pray that it does.