Learn from Israel how to contain terror

Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (retd)

Military commentator

When Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz arrived in India last week, the Israeli Police and Defence Forces (IDF) were chasing terrorists targeting Israelis. Gantz met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Modi. He told them that India is an industrial superpower and Israel a technological superpower and together they can add to global stability.

Israel is a world leader in counter-terrorism and, like India, has been battling the scourge since its independence. New Delhi has not drawn adequately from Tel Aviv’s wide knowledge of technology, techniques and tactics (three Ts) in combating its unending bouts of terrorism in J&K, which is currently facing a deadly wave of lone attacks against civilians, creating fear and panic reminiscent of the 1990s.

Israel, which has lived with wars (against all its neighbours) and terrorism since its birth, has preferred the use of hard power over soft power to maintain a fragile threshold of deterrence against internal and external terrorism, with considerable military and diplomatic support from the US. Its congenital reluctance to accept a political settlement is part of the problem. Unkind geography has shaped its traumatic history and consistent use of disproportionate force, which, it claims, is within the law of the land.

Kashmir refuses to ‘calm down’ three years after the government’s boast following reading down of Article 370, despite internalising its assimilation. Cross-border terrorism will not end till the dispute is resolved with Pakistan. Viewed purely as terrorism, the ongoing spurt of targeted killings in Kashmir mirrors in many respects the continuing killing of Jews and Israeli reprisals in the West Bank — a problem that had delayed the Gantz visit.

Since March 22, more than 20 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in Tel Aviv and the West Bank. The IDF and police killed two Palestinians last week, but its counter-terrorism campaign has to be kept limited into not provoking a repeat of the 11-day war against Hamas in Gaza — Operation Guardian of the Walls (May 2021). The new terror hub in the occupied West Bank is Jenin, believed to be the headquarters of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade which is the military wing of Al Fatah. Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Ableh was killed in a crossfire during the IDF raid in Jenin. While terrorists are using knives, axes and pistols to attack their targets, Palestinian casualties are more than twice that of the Israelis.

Boaz Ganor, head of International Count Terrorism Centre in Israel, says that the first two attacks in March were inspired by the ISIS which had infiltrated Al Fatah and entered for the first time, Israeli Arab and Palestinian communities. On February 3, Abu Ibrahim al Hashainal Quarayshi, Caliph of ISIS, was killed in a US operation. The two attacks in Israel were to avenge the Caliph’s death. The other attacks were inspired by Al Fatah which shows a preference for lone actor strikes.

Gantz met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to prevent the hot-headed Hamas from escalating the conflict like last year. Also, before Gantz left for India, there was a discussion between him and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on escalating raids into military operations. Gantz and Shin Bet favoured operations against the West Bank focused on Jenin while Bennett wanted to go for usual suspect, Gaza. A call was to be made on Gantz’s return from India.

The IDF had realised long ago that it cannot end terrorism as it faces Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Palestinian Islamic Jehad in the West Bank and now the ISIS (which Israel will not officially admit) in Jenin. Hezbollah and Hamas possess more than 2,00,000 rockets that cover all of Israel, courtesy Iran, which is Israel’s enemy number 1. So what Israel does is ‘mowing the grass’ by periodic military operations to degrade the military capability of terrorist groups, keeping a lid on violence, containing it. The IDF wire-fencing in Gaza and the West Bank was erected in the tenure of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank enter Israel through authorised crossing points to work there. A ceasefire with Hamas keeps temporary peace as Tel Aviv lives with the problem but controls the narrative.

India follows Israel in containing violence but does not ‘mow the grass’ across the LoC as it will lead to vertical escalation, though India’s problem is less acute and single-front. An on-off ceasefire with Pakistan has prevailed curtailing infiltration. An up-rated fencing is in place with the time-tested counter-infiltration and counter-terrorism grids backed by two tiers of defences and an intelligence and surveillance system that activates rapid reaction teams. Mines are laid in gaps between hot war posts.

Terrorist numbers have been brought down from 2,000 in 2002 to 200 in 2010, almost all in the Valley, with equal proportion of foreign and local fighters, but with the latter increasing exponentially after the revocation of Article 370. Their tactics are changing: the Pulwama and Uri variety of spectacular attacks has ceased. A strategic deterrence is visible for the first time. Still, regular targeted attacks against soft targets — Kashmiri Pandits, non-Muslim migrant workers and off duty policemen — are continuing. The protection of civilians by the security forces will reduce alienation and regain the narrative.

So, what should India seek from Israel in terms of subduing terrorism? Fine-tuning the intelligence template, upgrading fencing, recalibrating LoC surveillance, tracking moves of terrorists with drones, and three Ts for reducing the terrorist population. Future threats from terrorists in Afghanistan should also be considered. Finally, no amount of tinkering with the constitutional status of J&K will be a substitute for a political solution. Israel is dodging one, but has signed the Abraham Accords for reducing external foes. One thing Israel cannot teach us is resuming talks with Pakistan and with the people of J&K even if it means dilution of the government’s muscularity.

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