Terror: How Israel Has Coped and What America Can Learn

***** Terror: How Israel Has Coped and What America Can Learn. By Leonard A. Cole; published by Indiana University Press, www.iupress.indiana.edu (Web); 251 pages; $24.95.

Israel has long held the dubious distinction of being the world’s most experienced country in dealing with terrorism. Thus, it has also become the world leader in developing best practices for counterterrorism and security in general. The country’s reputation has been earned at the cost of many lives, but its knowledge has saved many more by preventing countless acts of terrorism directed at its citizens.

Terror: How Israel Has Coped and What America Can Learn is the latest of many books based on the notion that much of the Israeli experience can be transferred to the United States and other countries with similar results. Author Leonard Cole makes a good case for this view.

Relying on historical anecdotes and interviews conducted with survivors of, and witnesses to, terrorist attacks, Cole demonstrates that Israelis have effectively answered the challenges of terrorism without letting it overshadow their daily lives. That dual success, Cole says, results from emphasis on unity as well as the use of common, centralized procedures that allow coordination of emergency response to attacks.

Cole offers several recommendations to other countries, including  a focus on preparing citizens rather than agencies, standardization of a nationwide communications system linking key agencies, the development of “terror medicine” as an established discipline, and coordinated drills among local responders. There is little new here, but the arguments are valid, and the supporting material is current.

Cole’s enthusiasm for Israeli techniques is tempered somewhat by recognition of the obvious differences between Israel and the United States, such as size and environment. In an appendix, Cole directly compares and contrasts preparedness and response policies in Israel and the United States, specifically in areas such as security, communications, drills and exercises, emergency healthcare, emotional trauma, and social attitudes. Unfortunately, Cole then moves quickly to recommend that the United States emulate Israel in its efforts.

Terror is a book well worth reading, even if its author appears predisposed toward the theory that Israel’s approach to terrorism would fit a very different country. His conclusion that there is much room for improvement in the United States is correct, but his arguments are not new. Many of Israel’s fixes are well known and have been for some time. Why they haven’t been implemented elsewhere has more to do with environment, politics, and cost than with lack of national wisdom or will.

True, we can adapt many of their practices and procedures to our benefit, but we must beware of simply adopting these willy-nilly. To do so would be as counterproductive as the often cosmetic approach many of our agencies and corporations have adopted in the past.

Reviewer: Mayer Nudell, CSC (Certified Security Consultant), is an independent consultant on crisis management, contingency planning, and related issues.