Israel Internal Security Case Study

Israel Internal Security Case Study Nature of the state Israel is a young nation, developed following WWII, when Britain withdrew from Palestine and the United Nations partitioned a portion of it for the resettlement of displaced Jews following the war. Arab nations in the region and Palestine itself rejected the arrangement, but it was followed through with nonetheless. The arrangement developed into several costly wars in which the Israeli army was successful, with the aide of foreign backing but many deep rooted tensions have not been resolved since.

The Israeli government also occupies additional lands, which were acquired through these costly wars, most notably the Gaza strip and a few other regions, though some have been returned to their nation of origin since. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo accords") guiding an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.

In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement... progress toward a permanent status agreement has been undermined by Palestinian-Israeli violence ongoing since September 2000.

(CIA World Factbook NP) It was hoped that the resolution to the conflict between Palestine and Israel would have come to a peaceful conclusion, when the long reigning Palestinian (PLO) leader Yasir Arafat, died in 2004 and was replaced by election in 2005 by Mahmud Abbas. Violence since 2005 does not suggest that there has been a serious resolution of the many long standing issues or the view of many Arabs, who often see Israel as a fundamentally aggressive nation. Israel is governed as a parliamentary democracy but without a formal constitution.

Some constitutional functions are fulfilled by the 1948 Declaration of Establishment, the basic laws of parliament, known as Knesst and the Israeli citizenship law. The Judiciary branch of government is a mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations and according toe the CIA World factbook, personal matters are decided through Jewish, Christian and Muslim legal systems.

There has in the past been some interjection of legal authority by the UN, but in 1985 Israel broke from tradition and informed the UN that it would no longer utilize compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction. The judicial branch's highest authority is the Supreme Court whose members are appointed for life by the Israeli president. (CIA World Factbook NP) The executive branch consists of two lead positions, the chief of state President, currently Moshe Katzav and the head of government currently Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The cabinet is also considered a part of the executive branch and is selected by the prime minister and approved by the Knesset the presidential role is largely a ceremonial one, and he is elected by the Knesset to seven-year terms. The legislative branch is unicameral and is known as the Knesset or parliament. There are 120 seats and they are each elected for four-year terms by popular vote.

A election results: percent of vote by party - Likud Party 29.4%, Labor 14.5%, Shinui 12.3%, Shas 8.2%, National Union 5.5%, Meretz 5.2%, United Torah Judaism 4.3%, National Religious Party 4.2%, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3.0%, One Nation 2.8%, National Democratic Assembly 2.3%, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya (YBA) 2.2%, United Arab List 2.1%, Green Leaf Party 1.2%, Herut 1.2%, other 1.6%; seats by party - Likud 38, Labor 19, Shinui 15, Shas 11, National Union 7, Meretz 6, National Religious Party 6, United Torah Judaism 5, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3, One Nation 3, National Democratic Assembly 3, YBA 2, United Arab List 2 (CIA Worldfactbook NP) Salient facts Location: Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon Geographic coordinates: 31-30 N, 34-45 E Map references: Middle East Area: total: 20,770 sq km land: 20,330 sq km water: 440 sq km Area - comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey Land boundaries: total: 1,017 km border countries: Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km Coastline: 273 km Maritime claims: continental shelf: to depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 nm Climate: temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas Terrain: Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley Elevation extremes: lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m Natural resources: timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand Land use: arable land: 16.39% permanent crops: 4.17% other: 79.44% (2001) Irrigated land: 1,990 sq km (1998 est.) Natural hazards: sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes Environment - current issues: limited arable land and natural fresh water resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation Geography - note: there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 25 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.); Sea of Galilee is an important freshwater source The population of Israel, is: "6,199,008 note: includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, more than 5,000 in the Gaza Strip, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.)" (CIA World factbook NP) Ethnic and religious diversity has changed over the years but is logically varied.

Representation of minorities is also relatively low, in Israel itself as can be seen from the above elected seats statistics. According to the CIA World Factbook the following applies to the nation, but does not include the populations in occupied territories, of Palestinian association.

Ethnic groups: Jewish 80.1% (Europe/America-born 32.1%, Israel-born 20.8%, Africa-born 14.6%, Asia-born 12.6%), non-Jewish 19.9% (mostly Arab) (1996 est.) Religions: Jewish 80.1%, Muslim 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim), Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.) Languages: Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language Capital: Jerusalem Note: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the U.S., like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv Administrative divisions: 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration) National holiday: Independence Day, 14 May (1948); note - Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May Constitution: no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the Basic Laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law Legal system: mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal (CIA World Factbook NP) Threats to the state (both historical and contemporary) As a relatively new nation the concept of threats to Israel are broad, threats are both internal and external, including derisive internal threats from the Palestinian terror organizations as well as threats from other Arab nations, with regard to Israel's treatment of the Palestinians as well as their existence as a Jewish nation populated by a non-Jewish majority.

Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Egypt have at various times throughout history posed a military threat against Israel, Jones, and Murphy 117) yet more importantly the ideology of discord and hatred of Israel as a Jewish stronghold in the Arab world is a constant terrorist threat, which has been realized in hundreds if no thousands of incidence of terrorist attacks and near constant inclusion in terrorist activity against Israel.

Weinberg and Pedahzur 9) Nearly every recognized fundamentalist terrorist organization in the region, as well as in branches elsewhere have a diatribe condemning Israel and its existence as Jewish state. Each utilizes real and revisionist ideals of historical acts of Israel's aggression toward Arabs and Arab states to validate its contempt and actions.

Weiner 415) What do the leaders consider the principle threats to be Leaders contend that that most principle threats from non-state organizations, are frequently associated with terrorist acts against civilians, suicide bombings and even in some cases air bombings of roads and buildings. State threats are also significant and recognized though they are mostly associated with the foundation of Arab Israeli conflict over a recognized and autonomous state of Palestine.

What are the recognized threats Recognized threats on a national and international level include, expansion of international terrorism, as a result of universal fundamentalist Arab calls for violence against those who oppress Arabs. Israel is at the center of this conflict as the most regionally active, non-Arab state and as a result of historical actions taken by it to maintain itself and its territories, both recognized and occupied.

Short contemporary history of the threats Description of known terrorist activity (both groups and incidents) As has been said before terrorist activity has ebbed and flowed over the years, the most frequent current increase in threats has come from non-PLO affiliated sources, sometimes national sometimes international.

The Hamas are currently particularly active in bombings, as can be seen from the statistics below while other groups such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Popular Resistance Committees, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and others frequently take responsibility for planned attacks, mostly suicide bombings in civilian populations and at checkpoints. There are also frequently non-affiliated rouge suicide bombings which are an aspect of the Palestinian foundational ideals regarding the righteous actions of martyrs.

Martyrs (suicide bombers) are frequently very young and inconspicuous, such as young boys and now young pregnant women Organizations Recognized terrorist organizations include the Palestinian Liberation Organization (les so since 1993), Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al' Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Resistance Committees, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The threat of non-affiliate individual suicide bombers is also extremely high in Israel, as individual Palestinians mainly frequently utilize this form of terrorism to try to destabilize Israel.

Hamas, in particular has a relatively high rate of military like terrorist attacks using bombing and antiaircraft equipment to attack Israeli cars roads and people, while the PRC and AMB coordinate and train individuals to perform suicide bomb attacks. Nearly all the acts of terrorism against Israel, both domestically and abroad are deliberately committed against Israeli civilians, hence true to the nature of terrorism.

Bombings / attacks In 1993 Israel and the PLO signed a Declaration of Principles which curtailed, for a short time the number of attacks by official PLO members, but did not stop terrorism, Instead the attacks and planning where simply shifted toward organizations with no direct link to the PLO but resoundingly similar claims of injustice and manifests of intention. Despite this change there were still 256 civilian and Israeli soldier deaths in Israel as a result of terrorist attacks, between September 1993 and December of 2000, of one nature or another.

The statistics that follow represent attacks between 2000 and 2006. (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs NP) Between September 29, 2000 and May 1, 2006, Magen David Adom treated a total of 7,844 casualties as follows: 999 killed, 642 severely injured, 940 moderately, and 5,263 lightly injured, among them 11 MDA staff members. (IDF casualties treated by IDF medical personnel are not included in these figures.) Note: This list also includes 18 Israelis killed abroad in terror attacks directed specifically against Israeli targets, and 3 American diplomatic personnel killed in Gaza.

Number of Israelis killed in terror attacks Number of Israelis wounded in terror attacks Number of suicide terror attacks Number of Israelis killed in suicide attacks Number of Kassam rockets fired at Israel Israili Ministry of Foreign Affairs NP) the above statistics include a few numbers of attacks that took part on foreign soil as well as a few foreign nationals killed in Israel by terrorism, though they do not include Palestinian or other nationalities casualties, nor do they include terrorist attacks associated with foreign terrorist organizations.

Financing of terror groups Financing of terrorist organizations comes mainly from Palestinian individuals. Some fundraising is done covertly within fundamentalist organizations, such as fundamentalist mosques and schools. Funding of international terrorist organizations is worldwide, consisting of legitimate and illegal businesses, drugs sales, identity theft and scams. Whittaker 133) Description of important internal security policies, laws, legal definition of terrorism, etc. Description of principal law enforcement and intelligence organizations-extent, powers, oversight, etc.

To a large degree the military is the main form of law enforcement in Israel, and some would argue that Israel is a police state. Military presence is a commonplace situation, given the almost daily threat of terrorism. Military service is also compulsory for Israeli Jews and Druzes, both men and women from age 17 and voluntary for other minority groups in the nation, including Christians, Muslims and Circassians. For women conscript service is 21 months while for men it is 36 months.

(CIA World Factbook NP) Military branches: Israel Defense Forces (IDF): Ground Corps (including Pioneer Fighting Youth (Nahal)), Navy, Air Force (including Air Defense Forces); note - historically there have been no separate Israeli military services Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,581,883 females age 15-49: 1,532,234 (2004 est.) Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 51,054 females: 53,515 (2004 est.) Military expenditures - dollar figure: $9.11 billion (FY03) Military expenditures - percent of GDP: $9.11 billion (FY03) The Principle, non-military Police and intelligence organizations Israel in addition to military police keeping also has civilian police force.

They are responsible for domestic policing issues and public safety as well as some local and regional responsibilities for specialized policing with regard to counterterrorism. The border police, which are often supplemented by military personnel are the Magav, and they are a combat arm of the civilian police force. The Yaman (Special Police Unit) and the Yasam (Special Patrol Unit) are elite counterterrorism units in the civilian police force.

These agencies are supported by an all volunteer Civil Guard, who are trained and armed and serve the purpose of keeping the peace after events, while police are in transit to a scene. Smith et al. 397) The intelligence community of Israel consists of several agencies, all with different roles, rights and responsibilities. The Shabak or the Israeli Security Agency is responsible for the protection of high ranking officials, prevention of violent insurrection and to find and detain terrorist cells before damage is done.

Mossad on the other hand is responsible for intelligence collecting, covert actions and counter-terrorism in internal and external national security issues (it is also the oldest of the institutions developed in the 1950s) Aman is responsible for military intelligence collection and produces information for the parliament and the prime minister including national and international safety and security information. Aman also demonstrates broad responsibility for cross-border operations, and is equal to the military in its service, rank and responsibility.

Bar-Joseph) The powers of these organizations are relatively broad, as national and international security is an absolute necessity in Israel and realistically many individuals make broad ascension to the fact that constant threat of violence is present and therefore civil rights might need to be occasionally surrendered. Bar-Joseph) Secrecy is a frequent occurrence, as information regarding threat is seen as essential to the intelligence community and the overall safety of the nation. These agencies therefore have broad lenience in making decisions about the importance and value of information.

Civil demands for open information, as well as social responsibility have been slow in coming to Israel, as it has been in a constant state of struggle for its entire existence, some would even venture to say a perpetual state of war. The resulting forbearance of intelligence organizations is therefore a significant aspect of state protection and strength.

All the organizations may seem to some to be superfluous, and yet each agency fulfills different roles of intelligence gathering, dissemination and to some degree collaboration to meet the common goal of terrorism prevention. Hough 79) Each agency evolved to fulfill a particular role that was seen as lacking, and each evolved in a state of a current threat. The military organizations evolved as a result of many cross-border conflicts.

The expansion of each also evolved as a result of particular events, such as situations of extreme social unrest, border conflict and particularly heinous terrorist acts. Incidents that have defined the organizations Israel too has used military might to take on an elusive enemy. Controversial invasions of the Lebanon in 1982 and 1996 sought to flush out the PLO and other Arab nationalist bases and secure their northern border. In a similar vein, Turkish actions against Kurdish separatists have included incursions into Iraq where the PKK have strongholds.

These limited military engagements have tended to be largely unsuccessful and, possibly, even counter-productive. The U.S. strikes of 1998 hit an innocent target in Sudan and the Israeli incursion of 1982 is best remembered for a massacre in a Palestinian refugee camp. Additionally, the greatest Libyan-backed anti-American atrocity occurred two years after the 1986 Tripoli bombings and the PLO and al-Qa'ida were far from deterred by the state actions targeting them. Hough 79) Internal security relationship with the U.S. The U.S.

And Israel have partnered extensively over the years in the development of security plans and programs as well as with regard to sharing intelligence information. The partnership has created a demonstrative link between U.S. support of Israel and secondary application of the U.S. As equivalent to Israel in aggressive actions, especially on the part of Arab states. The U.S. supports Israel militarily and in the intelligence sector with resources and training as well as other collaborative functions, such as the U.S.

desire to be active members in negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. (Ben-Rafael 32) Broad Relationship With U.S. The Us in general has offered broad social, political and military support to Israel, almost since its evolution of it as a state began. The U.S. support the economy, by offering preferential trade. It supports the military and intelligence communities. It frequently associated itself with Israeli goals, even when such goals are demonstratively disagreed upon by the international community.

Internal security relations with other states are also clearly imbedded, though the international community in general often seeks to admonish Israel for its actions, there is still a clear sense that most European nations are on its side with regard to protective actions. Ben-Rafael 32) Relations with International police/security organizations Israel has relationships.