There is no more important issue facing the world today than the struggle against terrorism and there is no better teacher in the methods of facing this struggle than the State of Israel. I have been a longtime supporter of the Israel Democracy Institute, an institution that has been at the forefront of answering the tough questions of how democracies actively fight the terrorist threat while maintaining democratic values at home. They have much to teach us.
–Bernie Marcus, the Marcus Foundation
International Chairman of IDI
On Monday, February 5th, 2007, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) held a conference in Boca Raton, Florida at the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. This conference, hosted by American Friends of IDI (AFIDI) Board Member Tony Gelbart, provided a look at the challenges of maintaining a balance between the operational needs in fighting terrorism and the values of the democratic world. Two outstanding experts from the field of counter-terrorism, Col. Daniel Reisner from Israel and Professor Stephen Sloan from the US, spoke at this conference:
Mr. Uri Dromi, IDI's Director of International Outreach, served as conference moderator. He opened the conference by comparing the war on terror to the Super Bowl that took place the day before. Mr. Dromi said that the way people envisage a typical war is similar to the Super Bowl. There are two teams, a set of ground rules, and the strongest team wins. In the war on terror, the opponent is elusive or invisible, perhaps even sitting in the crowd. In the US it seems that in this scenario, the whereabouts of the opposing team are unknown, and therefore the entire stadium is shut down, and/or civil rights are curbed and people who are even mildly suspicious are arrested without trial. In Israel, a different scenario occurs. For the most-part, Israel roughly knows where its opponent lies, for example, in rows 66-80. And, occasionally, Israel can and does pinpoint the masterminds behind major terrorist operations. But, when the exact row and seat of this perpetrator are known, a different problem arises – the terrorist's daughter might be sitting on his lap, or he might be holding a baby, or hugging his wife. Mr. Dromi's introduction led to the ultimate question: How can a country fight against terror without infringing civil liberties?
Professor Stephen Sloan, University Professor and Fellow in the Global Perspectives Office at the University of Central Florida is the author of several books, the most recent of which is: Terrorism: The Present Threat in Context.
Professor Sloan spoke about the fact that we're all in for the long haul; meaning, there are no knockout victories with terrorism and much patience is needed. Americans need to learn from Israel that terrorism is not going away. Americans need to give their leadership the leeway and support instead of demand results. The bottom line is that strategy is more important than tactics.
Col. (Ret.) Adv. Daniel Reisner was the head of the International Law Branch of the Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli government’s legal advisor for the peace process with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Currently, he divides his time between researching at the IDI, practicing law in his private firm, consulting on international legal affairs and teaching.
Adv. Reisner stated that in Israel, until 2000, terror was seen as a criminal offense. When the second Intifada began, and so many innocent civilians were killed and injured, the need to arrest terrorists remained acute, but seemed not enough. Since it is not always possible to arrest the terrorists, then targeting them became a legitimate means of fighting terror. The main problem that subsequently arose was how to target terrorists without hurting innocent bystanders.
Footage from the Israeli Air Force, taken from cameras of helicopters and drones, was shown at this conference. One video was of terrorists shooting at an Israeli helicopter from the minaret of a mosque. These terrorists were taking advantage of democracy's sensitivity to holy sites. The second video was of Israel targeting a factory of weapons. A car is seen pulling up towards the factory, and the pilot is ordered to hold fire at the risk of hurting innocent people. The last video was of a targeted killing of one of the leaders of a known terrorist organization. The Israeli pilot waited for this terrorist to be alone and in the open in order to minimize collateral damage. Once the terrorist had done so, the pilot launched a missile. The subsequent problem is that it takes 25 seconds for such a missile to land, and in the meanwhile, cars appeared at the scene.
After a lively Q&A session, Mr. Bernie Marcus summed up the conference by revealing IDI's intention to form a consortium of think tanks under the leadership of IDI that will come up with guidelines for how democracies should conduct the war against terror while maintaining civil liberties.
For more on IDI's National Security and Democracy Project, click here.