The History of Israel is unfortunately a violent one. Terrorism
in or out of Israel is not confined to
the Intifada’s of the Palestinians or the current global Islamic Jihad, nor is
it confined to any one specific religion, ideology or political movement. Jewish
terrorism also is a factor in the holy land. Jewish Terrorism has both ancient
and contemporary roots, the Sicarians in ancient Rome, the Irgun/Lehi and
others in the Palestine-Mandate era and now from right-wing Jewish extremists
who assassinated a Prime Minister, committed acts of terror against civilians,
and establish illegal settlements in the Palestinian Territories.
Ancient History
The history
of terrorism in Israel is a long reaches back to the First Century C.E. during
the Roman occupation. The Sicarians, named for the dagger they used (Pedahzur
& Perliger, 2009), are the earliest identifiable Jewish
terrorist organization. A resistance movement opposed to Roman occupation of
Judea they were involved in kidnappings, assassinations, and asymmetric warfare.
These acts were intended to provoke aggression by the Roman garrison against
the local populace, in turn fomenting rebellion against Rome (Pedahzur
& Perliger, 2009). The Sicarians most notable moment in
history was the occupation of the fortress at Masada. The story of the siege by
Roman Procurator Flavius Silva, and the alleged mass suicide of the Masada
garrison, including their families are well known (Pedahzur
& Perliger, 2009). Some evidence indicates it may in fact
have been a mass homicide carried out by the male members of the garrison,
killing their own family members, with a smaller squad sized element
(approximately 10 men) killing the rest in turn. Interestingly the Apostle
Judas may have been a member of the Sicarians, his family name; Iscariot may be
a variation of the word sicarii, a reference to the preferred weapon of the
Sicarians, at least according to one theory presented in a History Channel documentary
about the life of the Apostles.
Palestine Mandate Era
During the
era of the British Mandate (1919-1948) several Jewish terrorist organizations
developed. These groups arose out of the violence between Palestinians and
Jews, and attempts by the Mandate government to manage the conflict, and their restriction
of Jewish immigration to Palestine (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009). The most notable of
these terrorist organizations were the: Haganah/ Palmach, Irgun, and the Lehi
also called the “Stern gang (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009).
The
Haganah/Palmach was initially created as the paramilitary defense service of
the Jewish communities in pre-Israeli Palestine (Wagner, 2008), the most organized
of these organizations and the one that comes closest to a legitimate
“resistance” force. Composed of Air, Marine, Intelligence sections and regional
commands the Haganah was in some ways a blueprint for the Israeli Defense
Forces (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009). The Haganah had a
“left” leaning political identity; the Palmach was part of the Haganah and
often contained the best trained military members from the Haganah (Pedahzur
& Perliger, 2009).
The Irgun,
a right wing group was less trained or organized than the Haganah. Formed in
1931 after a political disagreement by some of the then serving Haganah
officers, due to the leftist-leaning politics in that organization (Wagner, 2008).
The Lehi,
formed by former Irgun member, Avraham Stern, was the smallest of the three,
composed at its height of approximately 800 members (Neff, 2006). They were not a
disciplined force and while all three engaged in terrorism, the Stern Gang was
the most brutal. Going further to the right than the Irgun, the Lehi was
influenced by European fascism and is known to have “shared Hitler’s
totalitarian ideology” (Neff, 2006), and “openly
celebrated Nazi victories” (Neff, 2006). At least until they
had a better understanding of the homicidal, anti-Semitic of the Third Reich (Pedahzur
& Perliger, 2009).
These
organizations were involved in many terrorist attacks during the mandate era,
some of the most notable were: The King David Hotel bombing in 1946 (Wagner, 2008), assassination of UN
Security Council Member Swedish Count Folke-Bernadotte in 1948 (Pedahzur
& Perliger, 2009), and the grisly but largely unheard of
(in the West) massacre in the village of Deir Yassin (Hogan, 2001).
The village
of Deir Yassin was located just outside of Jerusalem, it was an Arab village
that ironically had established an agreement to refrain from violence with
neighboring Jewish villages (Hogan, 2001) , and had provided
intelligence to the Haganah and cooperated during the Haganah’s taking of the
strategic Sherafa Ridge (Hogan, 2001). The Deir Yassin
Massacre was chiefly an Irgun and Lehi operation, with some assistance from the
better trained Palmach. The Deir Yassin attack was intended as a revenge
operation for acts committed by Arabs in previous engagements. No Arabs from
Deir Yassin were ever identified as having taken part in any anti-Zionist
combat or terrorist activities. The Irgun and Lehi officers were intent on
spreading fear among the Arab population by “liquidating all the men of the village
and any other force that opposed them,” (Hogan, 2001).
In fact the attack became an uncontrolled massacre, with Irgun and Lehi
operatives killing anyone in the village, including non-combatant men, women,
children and at least two documented stabbings of pregnant women (Hogan, 2001) many of whom were
offering no resistance. The village had a watch-system as part of their attempt
to both maintain security and insure compliance with the non-aggression
agreement with the Haganah. There were a few armed men, most likely members of
the village watch, which resisted (their right to do so as they were attacked
while compliantly in their village). The resistance, such as it was, stopped or
slowed down for a time the amateur irregulars of the combined Irgun/Lehi
attacking force. The Deir Yassin resistance was eventually eliminated by a unit
from the Palmach who briefly arrived and finished them with house to house
fighting. Prisoners were taken, however many prisoners did not make it and were
executed, some by formal firing squad (Hogan, 2001), many were just shot
for no apparent purpose but to satisfy the victors blood-lust (Hogan, 2001), an eye-witness Meir
Pa’il stated, “groups of armed guerrillas, eyes glazed running about full of
lust for murder” (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009). There was some
evidence of the female villagers being raped (Hogan, 2001) although due to the
stigma associated with sexual abuse in Arab culture not enough evidence has
been collected to identify the extent of sexual abuse at Deir Yassin (Hogan, 2001).
The death
toll has been given as 254 (Hogan, 2001), however in recent research
indicates the number killed was likely no higher than 140 (Hogan, 2001). The number for wounded
is given at between 50 and 70. In typical battle conditions these numbers would
be reversed, with more wounded than killed.
The Irgun
and Lehi both intended to make a statement with this assault, by killing the
men in the village, and sowing fear among the Arabs in general. This would have
been enough to qualify the attack as an act of terror, however given the bad
quality of the under-trained “troops” under Irgun/Lehi command that day a
massacre was almost inevitable.
Jewish terrorism in Israel today
There
have been multiple issues with Jewish terrorism in recent years in Israel.
While the focus on terrorism in the Holy Land is on the stone-throwers of the
Intifada, suicide-bombers and rockets from Hamas, or Hezbollah, however Jewish
extremism and accompanying acts of terrorism not only continue but are on the
rise. Islamic extremism and Palestinian national identity movements are
certainly a serious danger to Israel extremists. Jewish terrorism is also a
rising danger to the safety of both the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and
to the Israeli state itself, as these issues impact the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict there is a ripple effect that may be felt globally.
The settler
movement is a combination of right-wing extremism and Jewish religious
zealotry. There are continuing clashes between armed settlers and unarmed
Palestinian villagers. The Jewish settlers are often, although not always,
backed by the IDF and the Israeli legal establishment. The settlers in the
Hebron region of the West Bank ascribe to a philosophy of complete separation
between Arabs and Israelis, and for settlement of the whole of Eretz Israel
(land of Israel) which would include the Sinai, and the country of Jordan.
A man named Meir Kahane, a rabbi who had
established the Jewish Defense League in New York in 1968, and some of his followers
had relocated to Israel where they were initially welcomed by other Zionist organizations
but ultimately re-buffed by the more established political and religious
Zionist movements such as the Gush Emunim. Rabbi Kahane felt a close kinship to
the right wing Herut movement headed by Menachim Begin, Kahane felt betrayed
when Begin signed the peace accords between Israel and Egypt, this marked a
turning point where Kahane and his followers turned away from the State of
Israel and created a mental image of a new kingdom of Judea that would someday
replace modern Israel..
The
Kahanist movement also referred to as the Kach, were involved in many terror
operations. The affair in the Sinai in 1982 where Kahanist followers threatened
suicide if the IDF implemented evacuation plans in accordance with the
agreement between Israel and Egypt is an example of the level of commitment of
the movements members. Kahane, who was out of town, was actually called in by
the army to talk the would-be suicidal “martyrs” out of following through on
the threat of suicide. Several incidents with a sub-group of Kahanists called
the Committee for the Safety of the Roads, often targeted Palestinians in the
refugee camps, and put the Kahanists at odds with the IDF who were often forced
to disperse them with tear gas and rubber bullets.
One of the
worst episodes of Jewish terrorism in Israeli history was committed by a Kahanist
and close personal friend of Meir Kahane.
On a
February morning Dr. Baruch Goldstein a physician and reserve medical officer
in the IDF entered a holy site in Hebron called the Cave of the Patriarchs, revered
by Jews and Muslims alike. Wearing his
IDF uniform Dr. Goldstein opened fire with a Galil automatic rifle on unarmed
Palestinians praying in the cave. Using a combination of gunfire and grenade
attacks, he killed 29, and wounded 125 Palestinians, the attack continued until
Goldstein was overwhelmed while re-loading his Galil, and beaten to death with
a fire extinguisher by some others in the cave who were unwounded. This
incident set off a chain reaction of confrontation throughout the West Bank
resulting in the death of 20 more Palestinians and 120 more wounded. The
response by the Palestinians to the massacre at the Cave of the Patriarchs
while not in response to a sanctioned government operation does in some ways
resemble the “boomerang effect” described by Boaz Ganor in his book the
Counter-Terrorism Puzzle (Ganor, 2005).
Rabbi Kahane
was eventually assassinated leading to his followers committing several
reprisal attacks against random Palestinians having no involvement in his
murder. The followers of Kahane were following the idea of Halakha or Jewish
Law, and a desire to return to an earlier time of a traditional Jewish/Judean
kingdom, the occupation of additional lands, violent retribution against the
“infidel” Palestinians, along with the decentralization of their violent
movement, makes them in many ways similar to the members of the Salafist
inspired Global Jihad.
The Gush
Emunim was the earlier religious-extremist settler movement. Gush Emunim,
Hebrew for bloc of faithful, consisting of religious-Zionist members who wished
to settle all of the lands of Eretz Israel, the organization ceased to exist in
the 1980’s. Members were involved in aborted plots to blow up the mosques on
the Temple Mount; other members were involved in the massacre at the Islamic
college (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009).
The Islamic
College in Hebron was attacked in July 1983. Members of the Gush Emunim, also
called the Jewish Underground attacked the college using small-arms and hand
grenades, killing three and wounding thirty-three more (Pedahzur
& Perliger, 2009).
Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin P.M. of Israel
On November
4th, 1995 the Prime Minister of Israel was assassinated. The
assassination took place at close range by a pistol wielding religious-Zionist
named Yigal Amir (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009). Amir was angry over
the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords and he and his comrades wished to strike
out at the man and the state that they felt sold out their vision of Jewish
statehood. While he did act alone on the day of the assassination he was
supported by a network of fellow extremists who were part of the Jewish settler
movement (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009). This was the first
time an Israeli head of state was assassinated and also represents the first
major instance of open defiance by Israeli Jews directed at the state of
Israel. Amir was immediately arrested, every member of his cell was arrested
shortly thereafter (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009).
The
Settler movement continues and is very active in Hebron, however is not
exclusive to Hebron. Clashes between settlers and Palestinians are on the
increase, and appear to be occurring weekly if not daily. IDF General Avi
Mizrahi stated, “That unchecked Jewish terror against
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank threatens to plunge the territory into
another conflict” (Stewart, 2011). General Mizrahi goes on to say “What's
happening in the field is terrorism; it needs to be dealt with" (Stewart, 2011). Additionally the
General states “The Israel Defense Forces fears terrorism against Palestinians
is likely to ignite the territories" (Stewart, 2011). Even the far-right
government of Binyamin Netanyahu has had concerns about the violence and
extremism of the settler movement. “Following the arrest of a West Bank settler
suspected of multiple murders and bomb attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel must fight the terror posed by violent
extreme rightists, whom he termed a "marginal minority,” (Haaretz
Service, 2009).
In the West
bank town of Nablus more attacks by settlers against the Palestinians were
reported today the 27th of May, 2012. Settlers from the illegal
Yitzhar settlement on Palestinian lands south of Nablus burning dozens of acres
of farmland planted with olive trees, fruits, and vegetables (Bannoura,
2012) (Bannoura,
2012).
Clashes erupted between the settlers and Palestinian villagers, with troops
from the IDF intervening (Bannoura, 2012). However IDF
soldiers are often sympathetic to the settlers and in this case there are
reports of IDF troops moving into other villages in the surrounding areas and
arresting Palestinians (Bannoura, 2012). The cause for these
arrests is unclear; however the instigation is due to the confrontations
provoked by the Israeli settlers.
Conclusion
Jewish
Terrorism has a long history, while mostly confined to the lands of
Palestine/Israel it has been as dangerous and de-stabilizing as any brand of
terrorism before or since. In the days of the Palestinian-British mandate the
Lehi, Irgun, and Haganah directly influenced the British decision to leave
Palestine (Pedahzur & Perliger, 2009).
Today
Jewish right-wing extremists are pushing the settler agenda and threatening
what is left of the peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The Oslo accords
might as well have never been signed. Like all extremists a shift from the
radical ideology is necessary in order to defeat them. The current wave of
Jewish terrorism may still be manageable given its relative size and
containment in Israel. However the Israeli government must stop coddling the
settlers and playing to their agenda. This conflict has global ramifications as
the treatment of Palestinians by Israel, and acceptance of the Israeli government’s
policies toward the Palestinians by the US is a key motivation for recruitment
to the global Islamic jihad. The reduction of the dispute between the Israelis,
and the Palestinians is a key component to reducing the global war on terror.
References
Bannoura, S. (2012, May 27). Settlers Attack
Villages Near Nablus, Resident Wounded. Retrieved from International Middle
East media center: http://www.imemc.org/article/63581
Ganor, B. (2005). The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle.
Piscataway: Transaction Publishers.
Haaretz Service. (2009, November). Netanyahu:
'Minority' of violent far-rightists must be stopped. Retrieved from Haaretz
web site: http://www.haaretz.com/news/netanyahu-minority-of-violent-far-rightists-must-be-stopped-1.4995
Hogan, M. (2001). The 1948 massacre at Deir Yassin
revisited. Retrieved from APUS Online Library: ebscohost.com
Neff, D. (2006). Hamas: A pale image of the Jewish
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Retrieved from APUS Online Library: ebscohost.com
Pedahzur, A., & Perliger, A. (2009). Jewish
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Stewart, C. (2011, July). Jewish settlers are
terrorising Palestinians, says Israeli general. Retrieved from The
Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jewish-settlers-are-terrorising-palestinians-says-israeli-general-2315435.html
Wagner, S. (2008). British intelligence and the Jewish
resistance movement in the Palestine mandate,1945-46 . Intelligence and
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