Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again proved that he is detached from reality. With the West Bank seething and the ever-distressed Gaza Strip also unquiet, Netanyahu reported to his favorite place, the United Nations General Assembly Hall, and delivered another dramatic, irrelevant speech.

Most of the address was devoted to attacking the nuclear agreement with Iran, already a done deal, with the addition of a laughable gimmick — 44 seconds of “deafening silence” — meant to impress the representatives of the family of nations, who are rapidly losing patience with Netanyahu’s hollow tricks. Louder than his theatrical silence is his inaction.

Shortly after his speech came another Palestinian terrorist attack in the West Bank: Naama and Eitam Henkin, residents of the Neria settlement, were shot to death while driving near Beit Furik, on the road between Itamar and Elon Moreh. Four of their young children, who were in the backseat of the car, escaped injury.

The shocking attack is yet another warning written on the wall: A third intifada is on the way. After years of diplomatic inaction, senseless killings of Palestinians, land confiscations and home demolitions, and in the absence of any hope for the future, an uprising is likely.

The only possible response to this danger is by defusing it — not by building unauthorized outposts, not by launching a campaign of vengeance, not with mass arrests, harsher sentences, roadblocks and the choking of dozens of Palestinian villages, as right-wing leaders already demand. Such measures would only exacerbate the situation, dragging the region into another round of senseless violence. Genuine, courageous and far-reaching diplomatic action is the only thing that can head off the violent uprising and put a halt to the risk of bloodletting that is hovering over the residents of the region.

A third intifada would be a disaster for both peoples, and Netanyahu would bear much of the responsibility for its eruption. In all his years as prime minister, he has done nothing to advance toward a two-state solution, while paying it lip service. In fact, he has done everything to make sure that it can never happen, so much so that today there is some doubt that it can still be achieved. That was Netanyahu’s goal.

In these dangerous times, instead of fanning the flames of incitement against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and making flowery speeches about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, Netanyahu must do his duty as prime minister: to prevent further bloodshed by promoting a negotiated solution.