D4.1 Country Report | November 2021
Authors: Yaakov Gal and Sophia Solomon — Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
The aim of national reports is to give a conceptual account of how existing policies and laws address radicalisation, so as to pinpoint their most crucial aspects and best practices, finally developing evidence-based policy and legal guidelines within a state framework.
This report offers a descriptive, explanatory, assessment and policy-oriented analysis. Its findings are drawn from primary sources such as interviews, as well as secondary sources, including official statistics, state reports, academic research, publicly available data and legal materials. For the purpose of locating connections and gaps between legislation, policy and institutional framework we will look at central rules and practices, relevant to issues of ethno-nationalist and religious-based terrorism.
Through this, we will be better able to understand the state’s preventive, punitive and integrational approaches toward de-radicalisation.
After discussing the current political culture and presenting the historic context of terrorism threats in Israel, the report will take a closer look at countries’ legal organisations and main guiding principles vis a vis the handling of terrorism. In doing so, it will focus on three main themes: ethnicity, religion and nationality, since all three have a major impact on state approaches to radicalisation occurrences.
Additionally, the report will illustrate legislative frameworks including laws and regulations, implemented by state policies that include preventive, punitive and integrative approaches. The relevant institutions work through these state policies that are designed and affected by themes of ethnicity, religion and nationality. In doing this, the paper will present two central case studies, showing both the gaps and potential opportunities in law and policy implementation. Hopefully, the paper will also shed light on how the Israeli state’s defence policy is structured and how human rights can be protected within a framework of national security.