The defensive dimension of the battle against terrorism - An analysis of management of terror incidents in Jerusalem

The appearance of suicide terrorism in the streets of Israel's cities in the early 1990s demonstrated the changes in the characteristics of terrorism, which Israel and many other countries have had to contend with. The shift in the nature of terrorism has had clear ramifications for the way democratic nations counter terrorism and shows that there is a need to focus not only on active offensive methods but, at the same time, to develop defensive methods of dealing with a terror attack. The current study tackles this challenge by introducing a general model, indicating the significant principles of the defensive dimension of countering terrorism. The second part of the study will focus on one of the stages of the model, the management of the terror event, and present a number of salient variables affecting successful implementation. The last part of the study tests the theoretical assumptions by analyzing how Israel has coped with terror event management during suicide attacks in Jerusalem, and empirically evaluate which secondary factors determine management effectiveness during a terror event. The findings emphasize the importance of internal coordination among units operating at the scene, external coordination among municipal bodies and the clarity of the initial description of the situation as important factors in effective management of terror events.