FIGHTING TERROR Ð AND WINNING

Binyamin Netanyahu

Terrorism is back Ð with a vengeance. After being Today's terrorism can be driven back, even
subdued internationally and within most Western though the current breed of interlocking domestic
countries in the late 1980s, it has returned in and international terrorists is certainly not to be
ferocious and fearful new forms. In the United taken lightly. They know the West well and have
States, the bombings of the World Trade Center in developed strategies designed to take advantage of
Manhattan and the Federal Building in Oklahoma all its weaknesses. An effective battle against
City demonstrated to Americans that terrorism terrorism must of necessity require a shift in the
could now strike on Main Street. Internationally, domestic and international policies that enable
terrorist attacks from Beirut to Buenos Aires were terrorism to grow and the intensification of those
recalling the familiar scenes of carnage from the efforts that can uproot it. Domestically in the United
1980s on the television screens and front pages of States, this requires a reassessment of the legal
the free world in the 1990s. In Paris, bombs instruments necessary for combating homegrown
exploded in a crowded subway after nearly a terrorism, alongside the means to monitor added
decade's respite from such outrages. And in Japan, powers given to the government to pursue these
a horrifying new form of chemical terrorism struck ends. Internationally, this means identifying the
fear in the hearts of millions of commuters in one of great change that has taken place in the forces
the world's most advanced societies. driving worldwide terrorism since the 1980s, and
However, the modus operandi of this new wave shaping a powerful international alliance against
of terrorism is usually different from that of the them.
earlier terrorism that afflicted the world for two What this new terrorism portends for Israel,
decades beginning in the 1960s. The new terrorism America and the world and what can be done about
boasts few, if any, hostage takings and practically no it has not yet been sufficiently understood. The
hijackings. It specializes in the bombing of its growth of terrorism has been accompanied by a
targets. The reason for this change is that punish- steady escalation in the means of violence, arms
ment meted out in the 1980s to hostage takers and used to assassinate individuals, from small arms
airline hijackers, and to their sponsors, made the used to mow down groups, to car bombs now
more overt kind of terrorism a costly affair. The new capable of bringing down entire buildings, to lethal
terrorism seeks to evade this punishment by hiding chemicals that (as in Japan) can threaten entire
more deeply in the shadows than did its predeces- cities. The very real possibility that terrorist states
sors. Terrorism thrives in the dark and withers when and organizations may soon acquire horrific weap-
stripped of its deniability. Yet it is a fact that today's ons of mass destruction and use them to escalate
domestic and international terrorists may be identi- terrorism beyond our wildest nightmares has not
fied fairly easily, and it is therefore possible to deter been addressed properly by Western governments. It
and prevent them from pursuing the policies of must be recognized that barring firm and resolute
terror. action by the United States and the West, terrorism
114 ISRAEL AND A PALESTINIAN STATE: ZERO SUM GAME?

in the 1990s will expand dramatically both domes- they choose; their choice of means indicates what
tically and internationally. Today's tragedies can their true ends are. Far from being fighters for
either be the harbingers of much greater calamities freedom, terrorists are the forerunners of tyranny. It
yet to come or the turning point in which free is instructive to note, for example, that the French
societies once again mobilize their resources, their Resistance during World War II did not resort to the
ingenuity, and their will to wipe out this evil from systematic killing of German women and children,
our midst. Fighting terrorism is not a policy option; although they were well within reach in occupied
it is a necessity for the survival of our democratic France.
society and our freedoms. The unequivocal and unrelenting moral con-
But in order to fight terrorism effectively, we demnation of terrorism must therefore constitute
must first understand its nature and its goals. the first line of defense against its most insidious
Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic assault effect.
on civilians to inspire fear for political ends. Terrorists who blow up buildings in Oklahoma or
Although one may quibble with this definition, for buses in Jerusalem must never be accorded the
example by broadening political ends to include status of misguided or desperate men using
ideological or religious motives, it nonetheless desperate means. Worst still is calling the murderer
captures the essence of terrorism Ð the purposeful a martyr or shaheed.
attack on the innocent, those who are hors de combat, The citizens of free societies must be told again
outside the field of legitimate conflict. In fact, the and again that terrorists are savage beasts of prey,
more removed the target of the attack from any and should be treated as such. Terrorism should be
connection to the grievance enunciated by the given no intellectual quarter.
terrorists, the greater the terror. What possible To do otherwise is to elevate both to a higher
connection is there between the kindergarten status, thereby undermining the ability of govern-
children savaged in an office building in Oklahoma ments to fight back. On the domestic level, the fact
to the purported grievances of the Patriots of that terrorists are politically motivated criminals is
Arizona? What do the incidental shoppers in the irrelevant, except in providing clues for their
World Trade Center in Manhattan have to do with apprehension.
the Islamic Jihad? If the first obstacle to the spread of domestic
Yet for terrorism to have any impact, it is terrorism in most democracies is in the realm of
precisely the lack of connection, the lack of any political culture, the second is in the realm of
possible involvement or complicity of the chosen operations. The advanced democracies usually have
victims in the cause the terrorists seek to attack, at their disposal a vast array of surveillance and
that produces the desired fear. For terrorism's other intelligence-gathering capabilities that give
underlying message is that every member of society them the ability to track down terrorists, put them
is guilty, that anyone can be a victim, and that on trial, and punish them. The United States is
therefore, no one is safe. especially capable of monitoring the activities of
Although their professed purpose is invariably terrorists. It has technical capabilities that exceed
couched in the language of freedom and the battle anything available to any other country, especially
for human rights, there is a built-in contradiction formidable eavesdropping and photographic cap-
between such professed aims and the method abilities. The movements and activities of potential
chosen to implement them. In fact, the methods terrorists can thus be observed, and they may be
reveal the totalitarian strain that runs through all apprehended before they strike Ð at least when the
terrorist groups. Those who deliberately bomb law enforcement agencies are permitted to act.
babies are not interested in freedom, and those The Western democracies are capable of elim-
who trample on human rights are not interested in inating the domestic terror in their midst only if they
defending such rights. It is not only that the ends of decide to make use of the operational tools
the terrorists do not succeed in justifying the means presently at their disposal. But such optimism
 FIGHTING TERROR Ð AND WINNING 115

would be misplaced with regard to international means immediately clear who will emerge the
terrorism, a much hardier and more implacable victor.
nemesis. What road should the United States and The second wave of international terrorism, that
other democracies pursue if they are to overcome of the 1990s, is the direct result of all these
not only the domestic terror of Oklahoma City but developments. And the growth of militant Islamic
the potentially much more insidious international terrorism, with independent states in the Middle
terror which produced the World Trade Center East serving as its launching ground, and bases of
bombing, and which may very well produce other Islamic militants in the West offering alternate
such tragedies before it has been defeated? To bridgeheads, has already been felt in the West in
answer this question, we must first understand the more ways than one. Just as Soviet-Arab terrorism
nature and genesis of international terrorism and produced its imitators, so too, the growth of this
the process by which it has assumed its present kind of chaos is bound to have an effect on its
form. would-be imitators. It may not be pure coincidence
International terrorism is the use of terrorist that the method used to bomb the federal building
violence against a given nation by another state, in Oklahoma City was a mimicry of the favorite type
which uses the terrorists to fight a proxy war as an of Islamic fundamentalist car bombing. If this kind of
alternative to conventional war. Sometimes the domestic international terrorism is not cut out at
terror is imported at the initiative of a foreign the root, it is bound to grow, with disastrous
movement which nevertheless enjoys the support of consequences.
a sovereign state, at the very least in the form of a Undoubtedly the two greatest obstacles to
benign passivity which encourages the growth of dealing with this problem are, first, recognizing the
such groups on its own soil. The reason that nature of the threat and, second, understanding that
international terrorism is so persistent and so it can be defeated. My first intention when writing
difficult to uproot is that the support of a modern about terrorism has been, accordingly, to alert the
state can provide the international terrorist with citizens and decision-makers of the West as to the
everything that the domestic terrorist usually lacks nature of the new terrorist challenge which the
in the way of cultural and logistical assistance. An democracies now face. In this time of historic flux,
alien, non-democratic society may be able to Western leaders have a responsibility to resist the
provide the depth of support for terrorist ideas to tendency for passivity, the temptation to rest on the
spawn a genuine terrorist army; it can offer laurels of the victory over Communism as though
professional training and equipment for covert nothing else truly could jeopardize their societies.
operations, as well as diplomatic cover and other The leaders of the democracies must solicit the
crucial logistical aid; it can make available virtually understanding and support of the public and its
unlimited funds; and most important of all, it can elected representatives for vigorous policies against
ensure a safe haven to which the terrorists may terrorism. Obsta pricipi Ð oppose bad things when
escape and from which they can then emerge anew. they are small Ð was the motto of Israel Zangwill,
Thus, with the support of a terrorist state, the one of the first leaders of the modern Jewish
terrorist is no longer a lonely and hunted fugitive national movement at the beginning of this century.
from society. He becomes part of a different social Alas, many of his colleagues did not heed this
milieu, which encourages him, nurtures him, pro- warning, and the Jewish people paid a horrendous
tects him, and sees to it that he succeeds. The price in the decades that followed. The same advice
absurdly lopsided contest between the Western must be directed today to presidents and prime
security services and the terrorist is, under these ministers, congressmen and parliamentarians, with
circumstances, no longer lopsided. It now pits the one proviso: When it comes to terrorism, the bad
formidable resources of the West against the things are no longer small. They have already
nearly comparable resources of a foreign state or reached disturbing proportions, although it must
network of states Ð and in this contest it is by no be said that they have not yet grown to dimensions
116 ISRAEL AND A PALESTINIAN STATE: ZERO SUM GAME?

that prevent them from being contained and service of their aggressive purposes. It
defeated with relatively little cost. should be noted that all nuclear prolifera-
Several months before his tragic assassination, tion is bad, but some of it is worse. Nuclear
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin repeated several times weapons in the hands of, say, the Dutch
that terrorism in Israel, Judea, Samaria and Gaza government are simply not the same as
had once again become a strategic problem. nuclear weapons in the hands of Qadhdafi or
Naively dismissing the PLO's professed ultimate the Ayatollahs in Teheran. Action must be
aims as propaganda for internal consumption, the directed first against the suppliers and not
Labor government attempted for the first time to the buyers, and it must be led by the United
grant many of the PLO's demands Ð in the hope of States. The supplying countries must be told
being able to forge an alliance with it. At Oslo, Israel bluntly that they must choose between trade
in effect accepted the first stage of the PLO's Phased with terrorist states and trade with the
Plan: a gradual withdrawal to the pre-1967 border United States. A special American effort
and the creation of the conditions for an indepen- must be made to harness to this regime of
dent PLO state on its borders (except for Jerusalem anti-nuclear sanctions all the Western coun-
and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, tries, as well as Russia, China, Japan, and
which were left for later negotiation). North Korea. The European countries in
The Likud Government was determined not to particular often hide behind liberal trade
accept a Palestinian state within Israel's borders. We laws that enable European companies to
wanted to pursue peace and dialogue with the engage in such trade without strict govern-
Palestinians without deluding ourselves and without ment supervision. The United States should
excusing the dangerous rhetoric and support insist that those laws be changed; i.e., that
activities that help spawn terror. free trade, like free speech, has its limits,
Instead of accepting terror, we propose a global and these limits do not include the supply of
campaign against terror. We will abide by the laser triggers, gas centrifuges, and enriched
following rules, and we ask that other democratic uranium.
societies heed the following rules in order to The United States Congress has successfully
combat terrorism: pressed for enforcement of other standards
1. Impose sanctions on suppliers of nuclear of international behavior by denying pre-
technology to terrorist states. The United ferred trade status and other economic
States must lead the Western world in favors to states limiting free emigration,
preventing the proliferation of nuclear tech- sponsoring terrorism, or trafficking in drugs.
nology, fissionable materials, and nuclear The Soviet Union was largely moved to
scientists to Iran and any other regime with permit Soviet Jews to begin emigrating
a history of practicing terrorism. While such during the 1970s when the Congress passed
action under UN supervision has been taken the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, linking So-
against Iraq in the wake of the Gulf War, little viet trade with the United States to freedom
or no action was taken until recently against of emigration. Similar legislation could
the Iranian nuclear program. Israeli efforts to create an official list of states supplying
warn of the danger of the Iranian nuclear nuclear technologies to other countries,
program and the Clinton Administration's which could likewise be subjected to trade
moves to prevent Russia from supplying Iran sanctions. Countries which have interna-
with gas centrifuges should serve as two tional trading regulations so liberal that
examples of what needs to be done on a far they can trade in nuclear death will find
broader scale. All nuclear technologies and themselves having to change their laws or
know-how should be denied to such states, feel the pain where it matters to them most
for they will invariably deploy them in the Ð in their pocketbooks. Such a list should in
 FIGHTING TERROR Ð AND WINNING 117

theory be maintained by the United Nations Lebanon. These groups perpetrate terrorist
in order to have maximum effect, but this is campaigns against Israel, as well as Jewish
not the essence. The main point is that the and non-Jewish targets throughout the
United States should adopt a firm policy and world. The US State Department's own
then proceed to bring other nations on 1994 report on terrorism mentions among
board. And quickly. these groups: Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front
2. Impose diplomatic, economic, and military
for the Liberation of Palestine Ð General
sanctions on the terrorist states them-
Command (PFLP-GC), Hamas, the Palesti-
selves . This tested measure has not been nian Islamic Jihad, the Japanese Red Army,
applied in any serious fashion to the twin and the Kurdish PKK. The idea that one of
sources of today's militant Islamic terrorism, the most unrelenting of terrorist regimes
Iran and Sudan. Where it has been system- should be exempted from sanctions so as
atically applied, against Libya and Iraq, it not to offend its leader and harm the
has had measurable success. Those regimes prospects of peace is an absurdity. Both
have consciously backed off from the ener- the Soviet Union's Iron Curtain and South
getic sponsorship of terrorism that charac- Africa's odious system of racial laws were
terized their conduct in the 1970s and 1980s. eventually brought down by a firm Western
In general, the dosage of these sanctions policy of linking sanctions to an improve-
should be on an escalating scale, beginning ment in Soviet and South African policies,
with closing down embassies, proceeding to and there is no reason why a much less
trade sanctions, and, if this fails, considering powerful state such as Syria should be any
the possibility of military strikes such as less responsive when faced with determined
those delivered against Libya in 1986, which pressure over a protracted period. The
all but put this fanatical regime out of the tendency to try and bribe Syria to desist
terrorism business. While military measures from its support for terrorism Ð with
should not be the first option, they should American aid and Israeli concessions on
never be excluded from the roster of the Golan Heights Ð is the exact opposite of
possibilities. The mere knowledge of painful what is needed. As in the case of the PLO in
and humiliating military reprisals may be Gaza, the most that can be hoped for from
enough to cool the heels of dictators buying off Syria is a tactical cessation of its
entertaining the thought of undertaking proxy terrorism aimed at extracting the
terrorist campaigns against the West or its latest round of concessions; in this case,
allies. Iran in particular is susceptible to the terror inevitably resumes once these
economic pressure. The oil-exporting Islamic concessions have been digested and it looks
republic is virtually a single-crop economy, like the next round is to be had. The
and imposition of a tight blockade against cessation of terrorism must therefore be a
Iranian oil sales will undoubtedly induce in clear-cut demand, backed up by sanctions
Teheran a prompt reevaluation of the utility and with no prizes attached. As with all
of even indirect terrorist tactics. international efforts, the vigorous applica-
tion of sanctions to terrorist states must be
Similarly, the special exemption hitherto
led by the United States, whose leaders
granted to Syria must be brought to an
must choose the correct sequence, timing,
end. It is not enough anymore that Syria
and circumstances for these actions.
merely continues to appear on Washington's
list of states sponsoring terror. Over a dozen 3. Neutralize terrorist enclaves. Efforts must
terrorist groups are openly housed in be made to stop terrorism from areas that
Damascus, and many have training facilities are less than independent states but never-
in the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in theless serve as breeding grounds for
118 ISRAEL AND A PALESTINIAN STATE: ZERO SUM GAME?

terrorists. The most notable include the the purpose of operating there and else-
Hizbullah enclave in southern Lebanon, the where. In addition, the solicitation and
PLO-Hamas fiefdom in Gaza, the Kurdish transferring of funds in the United States
PKK strongholds in northern Iran, and the and abroad for terrorist activity should be
Mujahedeen enclave on the Pakistani border considered a form of participation in terror-
with Kashmir. What characterizes all these ist acts.
enclaves is the professed claim of the local 5. Share intelligence . One of the central
government that it is unable to prevent the problems in the fight against international
terrorism launched from its domain. Some- terrorism has traditionally been the hesita-
times, as in Lebanon, this is indeed the tion of the security services of one nation to
case; the Lebanese government is virtually share information with foreign services. In
powerless to prevent Hizbullah terrorism, this regard, countries have often viewed
but Syria and Iran Ð which respectively their terrorists as though they were the only
control the territory from which Hizbullah terrorists worth fighting, while turning a
operates and which give it funds and blind eye to activities hostile to other
ideological backing Ð are perfectly able to governments. The trouble with this method
do so. Syria and Iran should therefore be is not only that it is of questionable
pressed to cease not only terrorism which morality; the fact is that it does not work.
they sponsor directly from within their own Terrorists hide behind the mutual suspicions
borders but also the proxy terrorism which between the Western security services,
they protect and encourage from beyond seeming to be attacking a particular nation
their frontiers. when in fact they often view the entire West
The same applies to Iranian and Syrian as a common society and a common enemy.
agitation in Gaza, with one crucial differ- Only through close coordination between
ence. Here, the local PLO authority is law enforcement officials and the intelli-
perfectly capable of undertaking a variety gence services of all free countries can a
of measures that would totally dismantle, serious effort against international terrorism
rather than buy-off Gaza-based terrorist be successful.
organizations, but has refused to do so. It should be made clear that I am not
The United States and other Western coun- speaking here of warnings of impending
tries should in turn refuse to transfer any terrorist attacks. Those are now shared
funds to the PLO until it lives up to its part instantaneously by virtually all the intelli-
of the Oslo agreement, beginning with a gence agencies of the West. What is not
relentless and all-encompassing war against shared is basic data about terrorist organi-
terrorism. And if such activity is still not zations, their membership and their opera-
forthcoming, then it must be understood tional structure. These cards are often
that Israel will have to take action against withheld from the intelligence services of
the sources of terror, precisely as it does in other countries (and sometimes even from a
South Lebanon and anywhere else. rival service in the same country) for two
4. Freeze financial assets in the West of reasons: either to protect the source of the
terrorist regimes and . This
organizations information or else, at least as often, out of a
measure was used intermittently by the habitual organizational jealousy. But the
Carter and Reagan administrations during absence of systematic sharing of intelligence
the American embassy hostage crisis and its is not a matter of petty one-upmanship. It
aftermath. It should be expanded today to greatly hinders each democracy as it strug-
include the assets of militant Islamic groups gles alone to get a full picture of terrorist
which keep monies in the United States for activity directed against its citizens, with the
 FIGHTING TERROR Ð AND WINNING 119

inevitable result that lives are needlessly license to fund-raise for those of their
lost. If the democracies wish successfully to activities which are legitimate. Whether such
confront the new terrorism, there is no an approach can have the intended effect of
choice but for the scope of intelligence stopping fund-raising for terrorism in Amer-
cooperation to be increased and the scope ica remains to be seen.
of the jealousies decreased.
Permit investigation of groups preaching
6. Revise legislation to enable greater sur-
terror and planning the violent overthrow

government. Surveillance of and

veillance and action against organizations
of the
inciting to violence, subject to periodic
intelligence gathering on groups exhorting
renewal. In countries repeatedly assaulted violence and suspected of planning violent
by terrorism, a thorough review of the legal attacks must be permitted. If the security
measures governing the battle against ter- services cannot research which groups may
rorism may become a necessity from time to be dangerous before they strike, there is
time. The laws of every free society must be little hope of being able to prevent terrorism
such as to permit the security services to from springing up again and again.
move against groups which incite to violence
against the country's government or its Loosen warrant requirements in terrorist

citizens. The test is simple. If the law does cases . Search and seizure, detention, and
not allow a government to sift through the interrogation may be necessary for short
extremist splinters advocating violence in periods without a warrant where there is a
order to identify which groups are actively strong suspicion of terrorist activity. Strict
planning terrorist actions and to shut them and prompt judicial oversight of such
down before they strike, then the law is actions can serve as a sufficient deterrent
insufficient. to most government abuses, but it is
Legislation should be reviewed and, if important to experiment, as many democ-
necessary, revised to facilitate the following racies have done with the particular regula-
measures in all or part, depending on the tions. Law enforcement officials should be
degree of the terrorist threat facing each given considerable freedom to respond
society and its particular culture and legal quickly to information as it is brought to
traditions. light, but they should know that they will be
subject to review of their activities after the
Outlaw fund-raising and channeling of
fact.
funds to terrorist . The funding of
groups

terrorist activity, both inside and outside a Restrict ownership of weapons. Tighten

given country, must be made illegal. At gun control, beginning with registry of
present, terrorist groups often skim an weapons. Israeli law, for example, requires
allocation off charitable funds raised by careful licensing of handguns and prohibits
sympathetic ethnic or religious organiza- the ownership of more powerful weapons,
tions. Involvement in any stage of this yet gun ownership is widespread. Forbidding
process is tantamount to facilitating directly the ownership of machine guns is not a
lethal terror and should be regarded as a denial of the right to own a weapon for self-
crime of that magnitude. The American defense; it is a denial of the right to organize
counter-terror bill more or less takes this private armies Ð a right which no society
step by outlawing fund-raising for any can grant without eventually having to fight
organization designated by the President to those armies. The continued existence in the
be a terrorist group. It does, however, United States of heavily armed anti-govern-
include the bizarre proviso that such terror- ment militias numbering thousands of
ist groups may apply for a US government members is a grotesque distortion of an-
120 ISRAEL AND A PALESTINIAN STATE: ZERO SUM GAME?

other idea of civil freedom, which should be shifting the legal balance between civil
brought to a speedy end. liberties and security. There is nothing easy
Tighten immigration laws. It is now well in making this choice. But it is nevertheless
known that terrorists from the Middle East crucial that the citizens of the West under-
and elsewhere have made the United States, stand that such options are legitimately
Germany, Italy, and other countries into available to them, and that, judiciously
terrorist havens because of laxity in immi- applied, they may serve to put terrorism
gration regulation. This era of immigration back on the defensive.
free-for-all should be brought to an end. An 7. Actively pursue terrorists . Legal powers are
important aspect of taking control of the of course meaningless if they are not
immigration situation is stricter background accompanied by a commensurate mustering
checks of potential immigrants, coupled of will to act on the part of the executive
with the real possibility of deportation. The branch and the security services. Rooting
possibility of expulsion must be a threat out terrorist groups must become a top
hovering over all terrorist and pro-terrorist priority for elected officials of all parties Ð
activity in the democracies. The new Clinton and one that cannot be allowed to slide from
Administration initiative, for example, de- political relevance after a few cases have
fines spokesmen and fund-raisers for terror- been cracked. In an age in which the power
ist organizations as liable to deportation, of the weapons which individuals may
makes immigration files available to federal obtain grows incredibly from one year to
investigators, and establishes a special the next, and in which information about
judicial process for deportations in which how to obtain and use such weapons can be
classified evidence may be brought without instantly transmitted by electronic mail from
giving the terrorist organizations access to any part of the world, an active internal
the materials. security policy and aggressive counter-ter-
Require periodic legislative review to rorism actions are becoming a crucial part of
safeguard civil liberties. The concern of the mandate of every government, and
civil libertarians over possible infringements officials must learn to rise to this challenge.
of the rights of innocent citizens is well Potential sources of terror must be studied
placed, and all additional powers granted and understood, groups preaching violence
the security services should require annual must be penetrated and catalogued, and
renewal by the legislature, this in addition to groups actually preparing for it must be
judicial oversight of actions as they are uprooted.
taken in the field. Thus, hearings may be 8. Do not release jailed terrorists . Among the
held to consider the record of possible most important policies which must be
abuses which have resulted from changes adopted in the face of terrorism is the
in police authority. If the abuses prove to be refusal to release convicted terrorists from
too frequent or the results inconclusive in prisons. This is a mistake that Israel, once
terms of the citizens, the particular provi- the leader in anti-terror techniques, has
sions in question can be jettisoned auto- made over and over again. Release of
matically. convicted terrorists before they have served
The legal provisions suggested above con- their full sentences seems like an easy and
stitute a roster of measures available to a tempting way of defusing blackmail situa-
democracy subjected to a sustained threat tions in which innocent people may lose
of terror. A lesser threat usually could their lives. But its utility is momentary at
require fewer measures. In some countries, best. Prisoner releases only embolden ter-
these measures would necessarily mean rorists by giving them the feeling that even if
 FIGHTING TERROR Ð AND WINNING 121

they are caught their punishment will be crisis it may take them many hours to arrive
brief. Worse, by leading terrorists to think on the scene. It is therefore important that
such demands are likely to be met, they units of local police forces be trained in anti-
encourage precisely the kind of terrorist terror tactics as well.
blackmail which they are supposed to Israel has had some spectacular successes in
defuse: All that Timothy McVeigh's collea- this area, including the rescue of 103
gues need to know is that the United States hostages at Entebbe. But it has also had
government would consider releasing him in its share of spectacular failures, the worst of
exchange for the lives of innocent hostages which was the loss of twenty-six school-
in order to get the terrorists to make just children being held hostage in a school
such a demand. Only the most unrelenting building in Maalot. Having specially trained
refusal ever to surrender to such blackmail troops that accumulate and refine anti-terror
can prevent most such situations from techniques reduces the probability of failure;
arising. it does not, of course, mean that terrorists
9. Train special forces to fight .
terrorism may be fought and hostages rescued without
Greater emphasis must be placed on the risk. What is crucial to recognize is that the
training of special units equipped for anti- risk to society of not challenging the
terror operations. In anti-terror training, law terrorists forcefully Ð that is, of negotiating
enforcers learn to fight a completely differ- with them and accepting their demands Ð is
ent kind of gun battle, in which the goal is to far greater than the risk involved in the use
hold their fire rather than to unleash it. of special forces. For in negotiating, the
Operations against terrorists often involve government issues an open invitation for
the rescue of hostages or the possibility that more terror, an invitation which puts at risk
innocent bystanders might be hurt. This the safety of every citizen in society.
necessarily means that the soldiers or 10. Educate the public . The terrorist uses
policemen charged with fighting terrorism violence to erode the resistance of the
must learn to subdue the natural temptation public and leaders alike to his political
to concentrate overwhelming fire on the demands. But the resistance of a society to
enemy. Counter-terrorist operations usually terrorist blackmail may likewise be strength-
require the barest minimum application of ened by counter-terrorist education, which
force necessary to overcome the terrorists, clearly puts forth what the terrorists are
who often use hostages as a human shield. trying to achieve, elucidates the immorality
While those branches of Western security of their methods, and explains the necessity
services specializing in counter-intelligence of resisting them. Such education is usually
and surveillance generally enjoy a high level unnecessary in the case of sporadic and
of professionalism and training, this is often isolated terrorist attacks, which are almost
not the case with the forces that have to do universally met with an appropriate and
the actual fighting against terrorists. It may natural revulsion. But in the case of a
be impossible to guarantee that there will be prolonged and sustained campaign lasting
no more scenes such as the one in Waco, months or years, the natural disgust of the
Texas, in which scores of cultists and four public with the terrorists' message begins to
lawmen were killed. But the likelihood of break down and is often replaced by a
avoiding such catastrophes is considerably willingness to accommodate terrorist de-
increased if the forces involved are proficient mands. By preparing terrorism-education
in anti-terror techniques. Such units at the programs for various age groups and includ-
national or federal level are usually ade- ing them in the school curriculum, the
quately trained for these missions, but in a government can inoculate the population
122 ISRAEL AND A PALESTINIAN STATE: ZERO SUM GAME?

against the impulse to give in when faced resolution a number of times before they
with protracted terrorist pressure. Familiar- draw back, and a government has to be
ity with terrorism and its complete rejection prepared to sustain its anti-terror policies
would create a citizenry which is capable of through shrill criticism, anxious calls to give
living with terror Ð not in the sense of in to terrorists' demands, and even re-
accepting terror, but rather in the sense of sponses of panic. But it is a certainty that
understanding what is needed for society to there is no way to fight terrorism Ð other
survive its attacks with the least damage. than to fight it.
And once the terrorists know that virtually Undoubtedly the leaders of the United States in
the entire population will stand behind the particular could be subjected to a barrage of
government's decision never to negotiate criticism that they are curtailing civil freedoms and
with them, the possibility of actually extract- that they are over-reacting. They should reject the
ing political concessions will begin to look criticism, responding, as has the Supreme Court of
exceedingly remote to them. the United States, that it is obvious and unarguable
With such a program of steadfast resistance that no governmental interest is more compelling
to the rising tide of terror, the United States than the security of the nation Ð and this includes
may once again lead the West, as it did in unlimited civil liberties. Western democracy is
the 1980s in successfully fighting terrorism. strong enough to be able to monitor any added
Of course, much of this program is laced powers given to its security services, especially if the
with obstacles that only purposeful determi- technique of requiring periodic renewal of these
nation may overcome. The leaders of Wes- powers is adopted. Moreover, the security of the
tern countries may choose instead to avoid democracies and their well being cannot be
taking the tough decisions and continue governed by the ebb and flow of local political
doing business as usual; they may adopt few skirmishes. Leaders must have the courage to do
or none of these measures, believing that what is required even in the face of the most
the new wave of terrorism will somehow stinging criticism. Courageous action is in itself the
dissipate of its own accord. It will not. best answer to the inevitable slings that the small-
Terrorism has the unfortunate quality of minded heap upon the statesman facing great odds.
expanding to fill the vacuum left to it by And seldom has there been a menace that called for
passivity or weakness. And it shrinks accord- the courage and resolve of the true statesman as
ingly when confronted with resolute and does the resurgent terror which threatens to rob us
decisive action. Terrorists may test this of the freedoms and values we so cherish.