Abstract
How do majority communities in Israel perceive the potential, unintended outcomes of policing terrorism? It is often assumed that these citizens desire and support harsh responses to terrorism threats. But at the same time, do they also consider the costs? In this chapter we address these question using survey data and in-depth interviews with non-Ultra-Orthodox Jewish citizens. These data indicate that generally, majority communities in Israel are aware of and consider at least some negative outcomes of extensive police investment in counterterrorism. Many believe that policing terrorism negatively affects the relationship between the Israeli police and the public, particularly with Arab citizens. Respondents also expressed strong agreement with the notion that policing terrorism in Israel comes at the expense of other police responsibilities such as fighting crime and enforcing traffic regulations. Moreover, many hold that counterterrorism is often used by the police as an excuse for weak performance in fighting crime.
This chapter is adapted from: Jonathan, T., and Weisburd, D. (2010). How do majority communities view the potential costs of policing terrorism?: Findings from a community survey in Israel. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 4(2), 169–181, by permission of Oxford University Press. Available online: http://policing.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/2/169.short.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
1,707 respondents expressed this willingness (44.5 %), between 158 and 212 from each police district.
- 3.
These respondents “strongly agreed” that “dealing with terrorism negatively affects the relationship between the police and the public,” and that “police activities in fighting terrorism hamper their relationship with Arabs in Israel.”
- 4.
These respondents “strongly disagreed” that “dealing with terrorism negatively affects the relationship between the police and the public,” and that “police activities in fighting terrorism hamper their relationship with Arabs in Israel.”
- 5.
These respondents “strongly agreed” that “handling terrorism threats hampers other police duties, such as property crimes, violence, drugs, and traffic” and that “too often, in my view, the police explain failures in handling crime by the fact that they are busy fighting terrorism.”
- 6.
These respondents “strongly disagreed” that “handling terrorism threats hampers other police duties, such as property crimes, violence, drugs, and traffic” and that “too often, in my view, the police explain failures in handling crime by the fact that they are busy fighting terrorism.”
- 7.
See data from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm.
- 8.
See crime rates per 1,000 residents in the Statistical Bulletin of the INP for the year 2008 (in Hebrew); available from: http://www.police.gov.il/mehozot/agafTichnon/Documents/doc_pshia_2008.pdf.
Also see a report of the INP regarding traffic accidents in Israel for the year 2007 (in Hebrew); available from: http://www.police.gov.il/mehozot/agafTichnon/Documents/traffic2007.pdf.
- 9.
“Which of the following sentences is closer to your opinion: the police are too focused on security problems and not focused enough on crime problems; the police are too focused on crime problems and not focused enough on security problems; the police handle both security and crime appropriately.”
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Jonathan-Zamir, T., Weisburd, D., Hasisi, B. (2014). How Do Majority Communities View the Potential Costs of Policing Terrorism?. In: Policing Terrorism, Crime Control, and Police-Community Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08126-7_5
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