Tuesday’s attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon have presented an opportunity that cannot be missed, said an Israeli counter-terrorism expert.
Boaz Ganor, director of International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzlia, said “this is the time that the whole world has to unite against terrorism and send one clear message that, regardless of where it happens, these kinds of attacks on moral law…are not legitimate or justified.”
Ganor has been in the United States this month to shed more light on the debilitating impacts of terrorism on everyday Israeli life. He has spoken at Jewish community federations throughout the country, including the S.F.-based federation. In the Bay Area he has also recently visited the Jewish Community Relations Council, local synagogues and Hillels.
Tuesday’s tragedy is a clear indicator that terrorism “does not just happen in Israel. It is an international problem,” he said.
In an interview Monday, Ganor explained how it is the deliberate strategy of terrorists to wage a psychological war with a people, by intensifying their fear beyond normal levels.
“People begin to personalize the attack,” he said. “Perhaps you have 10 family members or friends calling you after a severe attack, who were there and by coincidence were not hurt. Or you were there just a week before. You begin to think that if you or a beloved one were not hurt this time, maybe you or they will be the next time.”
In Israel, where terrorist attacks happen “20 to 30 times a day,” he said, the counter-terrorist institute has taken steps to try and help immunize the Israeli population to the phenomenon of terrorism. This is done by publicizing the statistics, analyzing the way terrorists appear in the media and encouraging Israelis to be more critical of the way they observe mass media, “which terrorists use to manipulate them.”
As for America’s reaction to this week’s attack, after which several cities — including San Francisco — declared a state of alert, government buildings nationwide were evacuated and citizens felt shocked and scared, Ganor called this “a normal reaction” that would dissipate in time.
Many Israelis, however, live in constant fear of terrorism.
Yet “driving a car in Israel is more dangerous than the threat of being blown up,” he said.
Ganor called the current state of terrorism in the Middle East a “consequence of war.”
“Arafat believes violence pays. Over and over again he’s been right. He’s received more political concessions that way.”
Ganor does not blame Arafat for the continuing terrorism. He blames the government of Israel. Former leaders Yitzak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak all made concessions while in office that “showed Arafat that terrorism does not endanger his interests.”
That’s why Arafat “had no intention of saying yes,” to the concessions made by Barak at Camp David last summer, Ganor maintained. Rather, he thought if he kept saying “no,” said Ganor, he’d eventually get more and more from Israel.
But Arafat “pulled the strings too much. He didn’t expect that Barak would fall and Sharon would rise. Sharon does not want another war on his name so he’s acting with restraint.”
Meanwhile, civilians continue to suffer. One possible consequence of this — and one that Ganor believes the Palestinians are “pushing for” — is an outbreak of Jewish terrorism.
“There is an order to the Hamas to kill a settler every day, because they understand that the settlers are the soft belly, that they will be the first to explode in revenge,” said Ganor. “Even if just one percent of the settlers exact revenge — and there have been about three instances of this — they can run to the international community and claim ‘Jewish terrorism.'”