The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism

Starred review from November 17, 2008
As the U.S. has grappled with the specter and reality of terrorism, American leaders have routinely consulted with Israel’s experts to fashion a similar offensive approach to extremists. But Israeli author Pedahzur (Violence: Defending Democracy
) makes a compelling case for one inconvenient if underreported fact: Israel’s approach hasn’t worked. Dividing the potential responses to terrorism into four categories (defensive, reconciliatory, criminal -justice and war), the author tracks the development of an Israeli war model and demonstrates that rather than sending terrorists running, the approach “leads to an escalating cycle of terrorism,” citing many examples in which Israel’s elimination of threats has created the impetus for more violence. This book makes an excellent case that the war model “is flawed not only because it undermines civil liberties... but also because it is simply unsuitable for the challenge of terrorism and causes the security establishment to deviate from dealing with other, more imminent threats.” While Pedahzur’s style leans toward the dryly academic, his insights are so well reasoned and relevant that the pages almost turn themselves.