On the Three Floors of a Legislative Building: Israel's Legal Arsenal in its Struggle Against Terrorism

תקציר

How is terrorism to be combated? There are of course various ways to do it. Recent developments, for example, the attacks perpetrated in London in July 2005, have clearly shown that legislators and governments have to adapt themselves to new situations and to new threats. Consequently, the courts will also participate in the great effort that tries to establish a new and delicate balance between the two opposite trends: the protection of the general public, the State, and the democracy on one hand, and the protection of the individuals and their civil (individual) rights on the other. In presenting the various steps of that struggle, the literature has generally concentrated on the courts and the various jurisprudences. I would like to try another approach: concentrating on the statutory aspects, as they evolved in Israel from the very beginning. I will show that the Israeli system is built as a triple construction, each story having its own specific task. This approach might provide new insight in the long story of the struggle against terrorism.