Fighting for Survival: Israel’s Counterterrorism Strategy
Dec 12, 2023
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This podcast explores Israel's counterterrorism strategy, including its adaptation to changing terrorist tactics and the evolution of cognitive warfare. It discusses the challenges of combating extremism without alienating populations and emphasizes the importance of addressing ideology and capabilities. The podcast also highlights the competition of narratives in warfare, the impact of social media, and strategies for overcoming information overload and thinking like terrorists in counterterrorism.
Israel's counterterrorism strategy has evolved over three stages, adapting to the changing nature of terrorist threats.
Israel faces challenges in counterterrorism efforts due to the blurring distinction between civilian populations and terror armies.
Deep dives
Evolution of Israel's CT Strategy
Israel's CT strategy has evolved over three distinct stages. Initially, the focus was on countering local terrorism sponsored by neighboring countries. In the second stage, Israel dealt with terrorist organizations based within the areas it controlled, such as the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The third stage saw a shift from secular Palestinian terror organizations to Islamist ones. Each stage required different counterterrorism tactics to address the evolving threats.
Separating State-Sponsored Terrorism from Terrorist Organizations
Israel faced the challenge of separating state sponsorship of terrorism from locally grown terrorism. In the early years, terrorist activities against Israel were often aided by neighboring countries. As terrorism evolved, it became more homegrown, driven by younger generations and fueled by a lack of opportunities. Israel's counterterrorism tactics primarily focused on targeting known terrorists to disrupt their capabilities. However, this approach did not effectively address preventing individuals from radicalizing and becoming active terrorists.
Transition to Terror Armies
Israel has observed a shift from traditional terrorist organizations to the emergence of terror armies or hybrid organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. These groups are deeply embedded within their societies and view themselves as legitimate representatives. They function like regular armies with hierarchical structures, posing unique challenges for counterterrorism efforts. The distinction between civilian populations and terrorists blurs, making it difficult to target terrorists without impacting civilians. Furthermore, the ideologies of these terror armies dehumanize Israel and legitimize their own tactics, making it challenging to counter their narratives effectively.
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In the first installment of a three-part miniseries on irregular warfare in Israel, we turn our attention to Israel’s counterterrorism strategy. We begin by overviewing the phases of this strategy before discussing the adaptation of terrorist tactics, how counterterrorism strategy evolves to address that adaptation, and what we are now witnessing as an evolution of cognitive warfare. Our guest is retired Colonel Miri Eisin. During her twenty years in the Israel Defense Forces, she served as an intelligence officer in combat units, assistant to the director of military intelligence, and deputy head of the Combat Intelligence Corps. Miri now serves as the director of the Reichman University’s International Institute for Counterterrorism.