Israel's Counterterrorism Strategy

Boaz Ganor is the founder and executive director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), the Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism, and the former dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya. He has served as an advisor to the Israeli Counter-Terrorism Bureau, the Israeli National Security Council, and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. His books include Global Alert: The Rationality of Modern Islamist Terrorism and the Challenge to the Liberal Democratic World (Columbia, 2015).

• AcknowledgmentsChronology: Prime Ministers of Israel and Timeline of Major Events, 1948–2018Introduction1. The Israeli Counterterrorism Strategy and Decision-Making Process Conceptual Models2. The “Fedayeen Phenomenon”: The David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Sharett Administrations, 1948–633. Palestinian National Terrorism After the Six-Day War: The Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir Administrations, 1963–734. Cross-Border Terrorism After the Yom Kippur War: The Yitzhak Rabin Administration, 1974–765. Terrorism Against the Backdrop of the Lebanon War: The Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, and Shimon Peres Administrations, 1977–866. The First Intifada and Activities of the Palestinian Islamist Organizations: The Yitzhak Shamir Administration, 1987–917. Countering Terrorism During the Peace Process: The Yitzhak Rabin Administration, 1992–968. A Prime Minister’s Assassination and Shifting Counterterrorism Strategies: The Benjamin Netanyahu Administration, 1996–999. Confronting the al-Aqsa Intifada: The Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon Administrations, 1999–200410. Disengagement from Gaza and Its Ramifications: The End of the Sharon Administration and the Ehud Olmert Administration, 2005–200811. Changes in the Greater Middle East: The Netanyahu Administration, 2009–201812. Israel's Counterterrorism Policy from the Perspective of Israeli Decision MakersConclusion: The Art of Israeli CounterterrorismAppendix: List of Interviewees and Selected NewspapersNotesSelected BibliographyIndex

Israel's Counterterrorism Policy is an important contribution to counterterrorism and security literature. Through unparalleled access to decision makers, prime ministers, ministers of defense, and heads of security and intelligence services, Boaz Ganor provides a comprehensive overview of Israel’s counterterrorism policy over the years and analyzes the key dilemmas and challenges. A must-read for leaders, security practitioners, students, and journalists alike.