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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4753
INFO RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002812 
 
SIPDIS 
 
S/CT (RHONDA SHORE) 
NCTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC IS
SUBJECT: ISRAEL: 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: STATE 109980 
 
¶1.  The following is Post's submission for the 2009 Country 
Report on Terrorism for Israel.  Embassy Tel Aviv's point of 
contact for this report is: Jason Grubb, Political-Military 
Officer, Tel: 972-3-519-7460; e-mail: GrubbJB@State.gov. 
 
¶2. Begin Text: 
 
Israel 
 
Four Israeli citizens were killed in three separate terrorist 
attacks during the year, down from 13 attacks in 2008 which 
resulted in 27 Israelis killed.  Three Israeli non-combatants 
were killed in late December 2008 as a result of rocket 
attacks launched during the December 2008 - January 2009 
conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist 
organizations in the Gaza Strip.  Rocket and mortar fire 
emanating from the Gaza Strip was the Palestinian terrorist 
organizations' preferred form of attack.  However, Israeli 
government officials believe Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza 
Strip helped achieve a level of deterrence, as rocket and 
mortar attacks from Gaza dropped precipitously following the 
conflict.  Israeli government officials welcomed this 
deterrence, but noted that Palestinian terrorist 
organizations have used this relatively quiet period to rearm 
and reorganize in preparation for any future conflict.  There 
were no incidents of Palestinian suicide bombing. 
 
In addition to Operation Cast Lead, Israel responded to the 
terrorist threat as it has in recent years, with targeted 
operations directed at terrorist leaders, terror 
infrastructure, and active terror activities such as rocket 
launching groups.  The Israel Defense Force (IDF) and the 
Israel Security Service continued to conduct roundups and 
other military operations in the West Bank designed to 
increase pressure on Palestinian terrorist organizations and 
their supporters.  Construction on an extensive security 
barrier in the West Bank and Jerusalem continued in some 
areas.  Israeli officials believe the security barrier has 
played an important role in making terrorist attacks more 
difficult to undertake.  In some areas in the West Bank, such 
as Jenin and around Nablus, Israeli authorities eased curfews 
and reduced incursions to mitigate effects on the local 
population while maintaining a strong counterterrorism 
presence.  Overall, Israeli security services significantly 
relaxed movement and access measures in 
 the West Bank. 
 
Given the temporary drop in rocket/mortar fire and the 
absence of suicide bombing attacks, Israel security forces 
focused on a new trend in terrorist attacks dubbed "the lone 
terrorist."  In this instance, terrorist attacks are carried 
out by individuals typically lacking criminal records that 
have not previously contacted or received support from 
terrorist organizations.  These individuals are harder to 
identify and deter prior to committing their attacks. 
 
Terrorist attacks that resulted in injuries and the Israeli 
responses included: 
 
-- On March 5, a Palestinian driving a bulldozer rammed into 
a police car and a bus in Jerusalem, injuring two Israeli 
police officers.  Israeli police and a taxi driver shot and 
killed the assailant. 
 
-- On March 15, two police officers were killed in a shooting 
attack near Massua in the northern Jordan Valley.  No 
suspects have been identified in the attack; the "Imad 
Mughniyeh Group" claimed responsibility. 
 
-- On April 2, an axe-wielding Palestinian killed a 13-year 
old Israeli and seriously wounded a seven-year old Israeli in 
the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin.  The assailant was 
later arrested; Islamic Jihad and the Martyrs of Imad 
Mughniyeh both claimed responsibility for the attack. 
 
-- On April 17, members of the Beit Hagai settlement 
emergency squad shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian 
that infiltrated the community. 
 
-- On May 9, a 56-year old taxi driver was kidnapped and 
strangled to death by three Palestinians near Gan Yavne.  The 
arrested assailants claimed they committed the murder as 
vengeance for the death of an Islamic Jihad operative killed 
by the IDF in 2007. 
 
Throughout the year, Israel's security services were able to 
keep terrorist planners and operators off balance, reporting 
multiple foiled attempts: 
 
-- On March 21, a 40-kilogram explosive device concealed in 
the trunk of a car parked in a lot outside a shopping mall in 
Haifa was activated but failed to detonate.  Israel police 
defused the bomb; the previously unknown Galilee Free 
Brigades claimed responsibility. 
 
-- On June 16, 10 terrorists from Gaza staged a failed 
assault at the Karni crossing.  At least four terrorists and 
several horses loaded with explosives were killed in the 
ensuing firefight with the IDF.  Video footage released by 
the Junud Ansar Allah ("Soldiers Loyal to Allah") cell 
following the attack detailed preparations for the attack. 
 
-- On November 26, IDF reservists ordered an individual 
approaching the Israeli border from Egypt near Eilat to stop. 
 The individual fled the scene after dropping his bag 
containing a 15 kilogram explosive device. 
 
-- On December 9, Israel border guards arrested a Palestinian 
attempting to carry six pipe bombs through the Qalandiya 
checkpoint leading into Jerusalem from the West Bank. 
 
Gaza Strip and Operation Cast Lead 
---------------------------------- 
 
Palestinian terrorist organizations were relatively 
unsuccessful in carrying out suicide bombings and other 
attacks within Israel during the past year.  However, these 
organizations launched effective mortar and rocket attacks 
from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory for the past eight 
years.  Israel security services assessed that the use of 
rockets and mortars reflected recognition by the groups 
launching them that their best chance for success lies 
through asymmetrical warfare, especially in light of the 
stringent physical security measures that limit the movement 
of potential suicide bombers into Green Line Israel. 
According to the MFA, Palestinian terrorists launched 
approximately 12,000 rockets and mortars from Gaza into 
Israel between 2000 and 2008, including 3,000 rockets and 
mortars in 2008 alone. 
 
The reliance on rockets reflected technological advancements 
allowing groups to manufacture rockets cheaply, stockpile 
them, and launch them greater distances.  In addition, Iran 
increased the provision of longer ranged rockets, which were 
disassembled and smuggled through tunnels into Gaza.  In 
November, Israeli security officials reported that Hamas 
successfully test-fired a 60-kilometer range rocket, or able 
to reach the greater Tel Aviv area from northern Gaza.  On 
December 16, Israeli officials reported that a Russian-made 
S5K rocket impacted in the vicinity of Sderot - the first 
time such a weapons system was fired from Gaza.  As the 
rockets' ranges continue to increase, Israeli authorities in 
cities and communities surrounding Gaza have initiated 
emergency response training in anticipation of eventual 
rocket attacks. 
 
The IDF initiated Operation Cast Lead on December 27, 2008, 
in response to the collapse of a six-month ceasefire and 
subsequent intensification of rocket and mortar attacks from 
Gaza.  The IAF launched airstrikes on Hamas security 
installations, personnel, and other facilities, as well as 
rocket and mortar launch teams, with the aim of stopping the 
rocket attacks and ceasing arms smuggling into Gaza.  On 
January 3, Israeli forces launched a ground invasion. 
Hostilities between Israeli forces and Hamas operatives 
continued through January 18, and the Israeli withdrawal of 
troops was completed on January 21. 
 
Three Israeli non-combatants died as a result of rocket and 
mortar fire during Cast Lead; according to the MFA and human 
rights organizations, 571 rockets and 205 mortars were fired 
into Israeli territory during the operation.  In addition, 
the MFA reported 4 severely injured, 11 moderately wounded, 
and 167 lightly wounded Israelis - but did not differentiate 
between combatant and non-combatants.  The MFA noted that 584 
Israelis were treated for shock as a result of rocket/mortar 
fire during Cast Lead. 
 
The number of Palestinian casualties during Operation Cast 
Lead was a subject of controversy.  For example, Israeli 
human rights NGO B'Tselem reported the death of 1,021 
non-combatants out of 1,387 total Palestinian casualties. 
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported 1,181 
non-combatants out of 1,417 total Palestinian casualties. 
The Palestinian Ministry of Health, Gaza, estimated 1,440 
total Palestinian casualties.  The IDF reported the total 
number of Palestinian casualties at 1,166, with 709 combatant 
fatalities.  The IDF explained the combatant casualty 
 
discrepancy based on the belief that Hamas operatives removed 
their uniforms during the conflict, thereby making it 
difficult to identify combatants from non-combatants.  The 
IDF also reported that it carefully verified the identities 
of most of the Palestinian combatants killed in the 
operation.  International NGOs claimed that Israel forbade 
access to Gaza following the conflict, thus making any 
casualty count difficult.  Finally, questions arose regarding 
the definition of "combatant," including whether Hamas 
policemen should be defined as such. 
 
Subsequent to the large-scale hostilities, the UN Fact 
Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, authorized April 3 by 
the Human Rights Council (HRC), investigated possible 
violations of International Human Rights Law and 
International Humanitarian Law that might have been committed 
in the context of the Gaza military operations whether 
before, during, or after by Israel; the Palestinian 
Authority; Hamas; and armed Palestinian groups.  On September 
29, the mission's leader Judge Richard Goldstone presented to 
the HRC the final report of the mission, with which Israel 
refused to cooperate, arguing that the HRC's mandate was 
biased.  The report, which was criticized for methodological 
failings, legal errors, falsehoods, and an anti-Israel bias, 
reflected the mission's belief that war crimes and possible 
crimes against humanity had been committed by Israelis and 
Palestinians.  On October 16, the HRC endorsed the report and 
on November 4, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution 
urging Israel and Palestinians (both Hamas and Palestinian 
Authority) to investigate the allegations.  Israeli officials 
condemned the report, noting that it serves to encourage 
terrorist organizations and "rewards acts of terror." 
 
Since the end of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF estimated 
approximately 250 rockets, mortars shells, and Grad missiles 
have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip - an almost 90 
percent decline in such attacks from 2008.  Following such 
attacks, the IAF launched airstrikes targeting approximately 
150 facilities, tunnels, and launch teams in Gaza.  The IDF 
also estimated slightly less than 100 attacks by Palestinian 
terrorist organizations against the Gaza security fence; most 
of these incidents involved small arms shootings or attempts 
to place explosive devices along the fence.  Israel 
government and security officials described this relative 
period of calm as misleading as Hamas rearmed and reorganized 
in preparation for the next round of conflict. 
 
Northern Border and Hizballah 
----------------------------- 
 
Israel's security establishment remained concerned about the 
terrorist threat posed to Israel in the north by Hizballah 
and its Iranian and Syrian backers.  Israeli security 
officials argued that Iran - primarily through the efforts of 
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - has 
established a sophisticated arms smuggling network from Iran 
through Syria into Iran's proxy Hizballah in Lebanon. 
Israeli security officials said Hizballah continued to 
provide support to select Palestinian groups to augment their 
capacity to conduct attacks against Israel. 
 
Israeli politicians and security officials pointed to 
Hizballah's efforts to rebuild and re-arm following the 2006 
Second Lebanon War as evidence that Hizballah remained a 
threat to Israel; these officials estimate that Hizballah 
currently possesses an arsenal of over 40,000 short- and 
medium-range rockets.  Prime Minister Netanyahu said on 
several occasions that Israel will hold Lebanon accountable 
for any attack by Hizballah on Israel, and stated on December 
12 that Israel views Hizballah as "the real Lebanese army." 
 
Israeli officials continued to claim that Hizballah has moved 
arms south of the Litani River, and pointed to several 
incidents in support of this assertion: 
 
-- On July 14, between 1,000 and 1,550 kilograms of 
explosives detonated in the Shiite village of Khirbit Salim. 
Hizballah blocked UNIFIL access to the scene, preventing 
further inspection. 
 
-- On September 11, terrorists associated with the Global 
Jihad claimed responsibility for firing two Katyusha rockets 
from southern Lebanon into northern Israel near Nahariya. 
 
-- On October 12, a large explosion took place in the house 
of a senior Hizballah member near the village of Tayr Filsay. 
 Israel security officials claimed Hizballah used the house 
as an arms depot and provided unmanned aerial vehicle footage 
showing Hizballah operatives removing arms from the house. 
-- On October 27, a Katyusha rocket was fired into northern 
Israel near Kirya Shmona.  IDF forces responded by firing 
artillery shells at the source of the rocket attack. 
 
With the exception of these rocket attacks and arms cache 
explosions, Israel's northern border remained relatively 
quiet during the course of the year.  The IDF continued a 
strong exercise schedule and military presence in the Golan 
Heights.  In April, Israeli media outlets reported widely 
that Egyptian security services foiled a Hizballah cell's 
plot to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli tourists 
in Sinai. 
 
Countersmuggling 
---------------- 
 
The smuggling of commodities, arms, explosives, and funds in 
support of terrorist groups such as Hamas through tunnels 
along the Philadelphi Corridor between the Gaza Strip and 
Egypt, and Hizballah along smuggling routes in Lebanon, 
continued to prove problematic.  Israeli authorities stated 
that the continued smuggling of sophisticated, medium-range 
rocket systems able to strike Tel Aviv into Gaza increases 
the likelihood that Israel will conduct another operation 
similar to Operation Cast Lead.  Israeli officials asserted 
that Egypt took steps to prevent arms smuggling from the 
Sinai into Gaza, but can do much more in terms of arresting, 
prosecuting and incarcerating smugglers, destroying tunnel 
infrastructure, and providing socio-economic alternatives for 
Bedouin involved in smuggling activities. 
 
The IAF carried out regular airstrikes against smuggling 
tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor.  In March, Israel 
news media reported on an alleged Israeli airstrike against 
an arms smuggling convoy in Sudan destined for Gaza.  On 
November 4, the Israel Naval Forces seized the M/V Francop, 
the largest arms shipment ever seized by Israeli authorities. 
 According to Israeli officials, the M/V Francop left 
Bandar-Abbas, Iran, bound for Latakia, Syria, carrying 
approximately 500 tons of arms - including mortar shells, 
Katyusha rockets, and 122-mm rockets - allegedly destined for 
Hizballah. 
 
Jewish Terrorism 
---------------- 
 
A high-profile case raised awareness regarding settler 
violence and acts of terrorism.  Israeli security services 
arrested American-born settler Yaacov "Jack" Teitel on 
October 7 in connection with a number of crimes and terrorist 
attacks over the past 12 years.  Teitel was arrested for 
posting anti-homosexual flyers, and later confessed to a 
number of crimes, including the murder of two Palestinians in 
¶1997.  He also claimed responsibility for several attempted 
bombings, including against Israel police assets, sending a 
parcel bomb to a Messianic Jewish family in Ariel in which a 
15-year old Israeli-American boy was injured, and placing a 
pipe-bomb that injured Israel Prize laureate and peace 
activist Prof. Zeev Sternhall in September 2008. 
 
While Israeli officials praised the Israeli security 
services' arrest and investigation of Teitel, Israeli media 
outlets questioned whether the security services are 
sufficiently motivated or resourced to conduct investigations 
on Jewish terrorists.  Israel security services believed 
Teitel acted alone, and not as part of a larger settler 
terrorist organization.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 
November 25 decision to temporarily freeze settlement 
construction in the West Bank has the potential to incite 
further incidents of settler violence and terrorism.  On 
December 11, a mosque in the West Bank village of Yasuf was 
set afire, apparently in response to the moratorium. 
Settlers repeatedly clashed with IDF and border security 
forces following Netanyahu's decision.  Israeli media outlets 
reported on a leaked IDF plan to put down settler violence 
and enforce the settlement freeze, further contributing to 
the combustible mixture. 
 
Terror Finance 
-------------- 
 
Hamas and Hizballah continued to finance their terrorist 
activities against Israel primarily through state sponsors of 
terrorism Iran and Syria, and fundraising networks in Europe, 
the Middle East, the United States, and to a lesser extent, 
elsewhere.  Israel has adopted strong measures to prevent the 
financing of terrorism through its financial sector.  Among 
other objectives, its policy of restricting economic activity 
with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has sought to reduce 
inflows of funds to support terrorist activity there. 
Regulation and enforcement of Israel's domestic financial 
industry is equivalent in scope and effect to other highly 
industrialized and developed nations.  In 2009, several 
changes strengthened Israel's anti-money laundering and 
combating of terrorism financing (AML/CT) legislation, and 
significantly increased the number of reported seizures 
related to financial crime by the Israeli National Police 
(INP). 
 
Law Enforcement Front 
--------------------- 
 
On the law enforcement front, the Israel Security Agency 
(Shin Bet) and INP continued to cooperate with U.S. law 
enforcement agencies on cases involving U.S. citizens killed 
in terrorist attacks.  On December 7, the Israeli Parliament 
(Knesset) passed a controversial biometrics bill.  The law 
will not officially go into effect until the Ministry of 
Interior signs implementation regulations.  Once the law goes 
into effect, Israeli citizens can volunteer to participate in 
the program for a two-year trial period.  Israel will 
reassess the law following the trial period to determine if 
the law will be extended.  The law seeks to create a 
biometric database containing fingerprints and facial scans; 
corresponding biometric chips will be installed in Israeli 
identification cards and passports. 
 
Speculation continued regarding the potential release of 
hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli 
soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive by Hamas 
since June 25, 2006.  Israeli society remains divided 
regarding the prisoner exchange.  The majority believe the 
state has a moral obligation to do everything in its power to 
obtain the release of Shalit.  However, a strong minority 
argues Israel should not capitulate to terrorist 
organizations' demands and questions the price of the 
exchQge -- especially if Palestinian terrorists with "blood 
on their hands" are released as a result. 
 
Israel security services spent more time, attention, and 
resources focused on cyber terrorism.  IDF leadership 
stressed the importance of creating a "cyber command" to 
combat cyber threats.  Israel security officials highlighted 
new trends in terrorist activity on the Internet beyond 
collecting information posted by Israelis.  These included 
direct and concrete appeals and proposals to Israeli 
citizens, especially those active in social networks, to 
become involved in terrorist activity or pass along 
classified information in exchange for payment.  Concerns 
over such activity included divulging classified information, 
as well as luring Israel citizens abroad with the promise of 
payment so that terrorist organizations can abduct them. 
Israel security officials called on Israeli citizens to be 
alert to suspicious internet or telephone appeals by 
unfamiliar persons. 
 
End text. 
CUNNINGHAM