Until about a year ago, IDF Intelligence estimated that “Israel was not being targeted by…
Rarely can imminent shortcomings be identified in the bud and prevented if immediate action is taken. Such a reality is now emerging with regards to the threat posed by global Jihad – a threat more severe than the one posed by Palestinian terror.
Until about a year ago, IDF Intelligence estimated that “Israel was not being targeted by al-Qaeda” and acted accordingly, or alternately, didn’t act accordingly. Apparently, the Intelligence branch’s estimate stemmed from lack of intelligence relating to such an eventuality.
However, the basic assumption that a lack of intelligence regarding planned terror activities in Israel means there is in fact no such plan is perhaps apt for the Palestinian arena, where Israeli intelligence has good coverage. However, when it concerns global Jihad, a lack of such intelligence points to a shortcoming that could lead to disaster.
Israeli intelligence hit in the face
Since these estimates were made public, reality has hit Israeli intelligence in the face. The global arena vis-à-vis Israel turned out to be rife with activity: Jihad terror in the Sinai, Jordan, missile fire towards Eilat and fire from Lebanon, along with intelligence indicating that global Jihad activists had infiltrated the Gaza Strip following disengagement, and a new global Jihad organization being established in the Palestinian arena.
As if this proof of their capability close to our borders was not enough, signs of their intentions finally hit home when the heads of al-Qaeda recently announced that Israel is one of their primary targets.
When there is synergy between global Jihad’s capabilities and intentions, the defense establishment would be wise to show signs of concern and alert.
Against the backdrop of this laconic intelligence, Israel’s political leadership and the defense establishment have chosen to continue ignoring severe security failures that have enabled the infiltration of global Jihad activists into Israel without difficulty.
Past experience has shown that Israel’s aerial gateway – Ben Gurion Airport – was penetrable by terrorists. Since the second half of the 90s, terror activists have penetrated Israel through this gate, and several of them even carried out attacks in Israel. However, Israel’s southern border, which is virtually unobstructed, should be the gateway over which defense officials lose sleep.
This border, which is mostly void of any real physical obstacles and guarded by minimal military forces, is used by Bedouins almost nightly for smuggling goods and people into Israel. This security shortcoming serves as an entry point for global Jihad to penetrate Israel as well.
Decision makers in Israel have not comprehended yet that the fight against this threat calls for a change of perception and new modes of conduct.
Military, intelligence is not enough
We have all been raised on the belief that Israel bases its security on the defense establishment and the IDF and not on any other exterior force.
However, when dealing with global Jihad, we cannot rely solely on our own military and intelligence forces. Effective handling of the situation requires a network that would comprise countries and organizations fighting a common enemy.
Israel would do well to consolidate such a network that would also include Muslim and Arab countries. When facing such a severe security threat, the tools of war don’t necessarily have to be tanks and planes, but rather, official and covert forms of cooperation.
The forces leading such a strategy don’t necessarily have to be the IDF and the Shin Bet, but rather the foreign office and defense staff who would work with their counterparts overseas.
Such cooperation would require adaptation of Israel’s foreign policies to the international campaign against global Jihad in a way that would contribute to minimizing global Jihad’s capabilities and motivation, which are at the heart of this threat.
Dr. Boaz Ganor is the deputy dean of the Lauder School of Government and Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, as well as the founder and executive director of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT)
Founder & Executive Director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel Prof. Boaz Ganor is the Founder and Executive Director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) and the Ronald S. Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel. He previously served for five years as Dean and ten years as Deputy Dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy & Strategy at the IDC Herzliya. Prof. Ganor serves as the Founding President of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community (ICTAC), an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter-terrorism. In 2019-2020, Prof. Ganor spent a sabbatical year as a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Australia; as an Adjunct Professor at the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security at Charles Stuart University, Australia; and as the Aaron and Cecile Goldman Visiting Israeli Professor and Israel Institute Fellow at Georgetown University, United States. Prof. Ganor previously held positions at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the International Advisory Team of the Manhattan Institute (CTCT) to the New York Police Department (NYPD). Prof. Ganor is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies (IDSS), Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence (ICSR), a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, United States; the Interdisciplinary Center, Israel; King’s College, London; and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention (RCCP), Jordan. Since 2014, Prof. Ganor has been a Member of the Executive Committee of the Academic Advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP). Prof. Ganor has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), the Australian Parliament, the United States Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. He has given hundreds of guest lectures at top universities and research centers throughout the world including at Columbia University, Syracuse University, Georgetown University, the Wilson Center, RAND and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. In 2001, Prof. Ganor was appointed as a Member of the Advisory Committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a Member of the Israeli Delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. Prof. Ganor also advised the Israeli Delegation for Peace Negotiations with Jordan on Transportation Safety, the Israeli Counter-Terrorism Coordinator at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book “Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism”. Prof. Ganor has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book, "The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers" (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his book, “Global Alert: The Rationality of Modern Islamist Terrorism and the Challenges to the Liberal Democratic World” was published by Columbia University Press in 2015. He has published several articles in “Studies in Conflict and Terrorism”, “Terrorism and Political Violence”, “Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflicts”, Orbis and the International Law Studies. He is also the editor of "Countering Suicide Terrorism" (2001) and "Post-Modern Terrorism" (2006). He is the co-editor of “ISC 2005 – Security, Terrorism and Privacy in Information Society” (2005), "Trends in International Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism" (2007), "Hypermedia Seduction for Terrorist Recruiting" (2007), "Terrorism Informatics – Knowledge Management and Data Mining for Homeland Security" (2008), and “The Global Impact of Terrorism” (2008). Prof. Ganor is a member of the Editorial Board of Springer Intelligence & Security Informatics (ISI) journal and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Counter-Terrorism Review (ICTR). Prof. Ganor has contributed book chapters for many publications, including to Oxford University Press, Routledge, Springer, and the U.S. Institute for Peace. Prof. Ganor chairs ICT's Annual World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, the world's leading international conference in the field of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. In addition, he co-directed numerous research projects for NATO and the Ministry of Public Security. Prof. Ganor is a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, the New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.
