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What France
Can Learn from Israel in Confronting Islamist Terror
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Defeating
jihadists isn't rocket science, but it's no walk in the park either.
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As my French friends, colleagues, and acquaintances agonize over what is
to be done in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the best advice I can
think of is to look at Israel.
This tragedy was not "France's 9/11."
Al-Qaeda effectively depleted its stateside human assets in that attack and
never regained the ability to strike the American heartland. This is
France's Al-Aqsa Intifada – unfortunately, more of the same is absolutely
going to follow. Whatever one's political predisposition to Israel's
counterterrorism policies may be, its success fighting Islamist terror over
the past two decades is the only real-world model for overcoming the
specific challenges France now faces.
Here are some of the main takeaways.
First, it's time to sacrifice some freedoms of
convenience. Most Israelis don't know what it's like to walk into a
mid-size concert venue of the kind targeted in France without passing
through a metal detector and their government intends to keep it that way.
They may gripe about it, but they would feel less free if their
government wasn't inconveniencing them on a daily basis.
Go ahead and profile ... the
jihadists bent on terrorizing France have some obvious commonalities.
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Second, go ahead and profile. All of the jihadists
bent on terrorizing France have some obvious commonalities. The reason
Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport is considered the gold standard
of airline security is that Israeli screeners are encouraged to
single out passengers for extra scrutiny on the basis of religion, age,
gender, and so forth, while waving the vast majority through terminals more
quickly. Not even the most seasoned terrorist is likely to take the risk of
running this gauntlet if he knows for certain he's going to find
himself in a room full of inquisitive Israelis.
Third, recognize that deterrence isn't fair. Since
it's impossible to dissuade suicide bombers with the threat of certain
death or bodily harm, you have to threaten things they care about. Israel's
policy of demolishing the family homes of Palestinian terrorists may not be
altogether "just," but it's necessary to counter the
overwhelmingly positive social approval and financial benefits these
families receive for contributing "martyrs" to the cause.
If being related to a terrorist
isn't already a deeply unpleasant experience in France, make it so.
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If being related to a terrorist isn't already a
deeply unpleasant experience in France, make it so. Understand that it's
neither possible nor desirable to ensure that terrorists are the only ones
paying a price for their terrorism. Make whatever efforts to avoid harming
innocents are consistent with your values, but don't let the backlash from
armchair counter-terrorists and Francophobes abroad dictate policy.
Fourth, target the brains behind terrorist
infrastructure. Go after the people responsible for recruiting, financing,
training, motivating, and directing jihadists, not just the foot soldiers.
Prosecute them if you can, but if they're overseas don't be afraid to
dispense swifter justice. Though controversial when Israel first adopted
targeted killing as a counterterrorism tool, most governments (including
most notably the Obama administration) now recognize its effectiveness. The
number of fatalities from suicide bombings in Israel dropped from hundreds
in 2002 to zero in 2010.
Fifth, fight the incitement. Americans can still
afford to pretend that Islamist hate speech and indoctrination has little
to do with terrorist violence, but France can't. The French government took
a step in the right direction when it deported 40 Islamists accused of
incitement in June of this year. It needs to go further. Instead of
avoiding the banlieues, rings of Muslim majority neighborhoods
around French cities that are impoverished, crime-ridden, and blighted,
gendarmeries and intelligence services should sweep into these suburbs and
place community centers, mosques, and high rises under surveillance.
Checkpoints should be setup at the entrances to Islamist havens and
searches conducted on those commuting in and out of these areas.
France must control its borders if
it wishes to avoid a repeat of Friday's terror attacks.
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Sixth, France must prioritize national security
interests over sectarian grievances. It's understandable that French
Muslims are frustrated by their socio-economic marginalization, and there
is surely room for improvement in how the authorities treat this estranged
minority. But the rights and wrongs of this issue don't diminish France's
right to defend itself or alter fundamental realities about what it takes
to do that.
Finally, at the risk of belaboring the obvious,
France must control and monitor its borders if it wishes to avoid a repeat
of Friday's terror attacks. The ability of at least one of the attackers to
claim refugee status in Greece and move onto France was an intelligence
failure of the highest degree. As Sweden, Germany, Austria, and other countries
reconsider Schengen, an agreement that allows uninhibited movement around
Europe, so too should France. The French Interior ministry instituted
border controls immediately after the attack. This change should be
permanent.
As President François Hollande declared after the
attacks, France is reeling from an "act of war," not a crime
wave. Israel has demonstrated that it is possible to win such wars, but
this isn't for the faint-hearted.
Gregg Roman is director of the
Middle East Forum.
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