On Friday, September 10th, participants gathered for the first day of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at Reichman University’s 20th annual conference
During the first day of the conference, dozens of senior officials and experts from Israel and around the world gathered to discuss burning issues in the field of counter-terrorism policy: The 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and their impact on terrorism and the fight against it; the development of global jihad; the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the rise of the Taliban; the Iranian threat and Iran’s nuclear program; lone wolf attacks and how to respond to them; terrorism’s threat to democracy; the diplomatic angle of dealing with terrorism, and more.
The first day was opened by Mr. Jonathan Davis, Vice President for External Relations and Head of the Raphael Recanati International School, who emceed the conference. During the conference’s opening event, a memorial service was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and in memory of the victims of terrorism in Israel and around the globe.
Prof. Uriel Reichman, Chairman of the Board and Founder of Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) began his remarks by saying, “In 1996, we were told that terrorism is not a topic for academia. Today it is quite clear that terrorism is a phenomenon that needs to be studied – its modi operandi, the connections between terrorist organizations that span the entire world, the tools and methods it employs. And terrorism today is very sophisticated, and very cruel, as we have seen with ISIS, which behaves with a barbarism that we have never before seen the likes of. Hence the great importance of the institute, of the work it does and of the relationships it has forged with organizations around the world, including cooperation with the UN.”
Prof. Boaz Ganor, ICT’s Founder and Executive Director: “The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism was the first to be established in the world. Prof. Reichman realized its importance already in 1996, five years before the largest terrorist attack in history. That day, I was in the United States, on a delegation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was sent to explain to the American academic community and public how difficult it is to deal with this phenomenon called suicide bombings. The title of my lecture that day, September 11th, was 'Stopping Terrorism - The Israeli Challenge'. That day this title became irrelevant. From that day forward, terrorism became the problem of the entire world.”
Shabtai Shavit, Chairman of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) and former head of the Mossad: “What started off as a modest conference has over the years become one of the most important summits in the world dealing with terrorism and counter-terrorism, drawing a great deal of interest. The conference is held every year on September 11th as an expression of solidarity between the US and Israel, allies that are leading the fight against global terrorism. If we look at the last two decades, we see that not only has Islamic terrorism not declined, it has become part of our daily lives around the world. The classic terrorism prior to that time was geographically local – today it is global terrorism. Then it was secular, today it is religious fundamentalist Islam. Then it was nationalist, expressing an aspiration for self-determination, and today it bears an imperialist character, expressing an aspiration to establish caliphates around the world. The classic terrorism of that time had a weak local impact, whereas today it resonates in real time and completely for free. In the past, terrorists had poor capabilities, and today they have advanced capabilities and weapons. Today, terrorism is legitimized by various countries and political bodies that make it difficult to fight. Today, terrorists are actually sponsored by countries that support them, countries with whom the entire world deals with, which gives them the ability to politically define themselves.”
Michael Ratney, Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy to Israel, thanked the ICT for its work on behalf of the US administration, and, marking the anniversary of 9/11, said: “September 11th is a day of immense human tragedy, which we now also recognize as a turning point in the psychology of many Americans, and in my country’s approach to securing our homeland. The State of Israel has withstood terrorist attacks and defended its people with tremendous courage and often at great cost. The United States has profound respect for that sacrifice and remains steadfast in our support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorist threats. No act of terrorism, not on September 11th, not ever, has succeeded in undermining our values or weakening our societies. Americans, like Israelis, continue to embrace fundamental liberties, and not fear.”
Discussing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which took place a number of weeks prior to the conference, Ratney said, “It would be a gross misunderstanding to view the events in Afghanistan as a lack of U.S. resolve, or a lack of will to work hand in hand with our partners around the world to fight terrorism. We remain committed to countering violent extremism across the region, and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS is a testament to what we can accomplish.”
Alejandro Mayorkas, US Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, added to Ratney’s remarks, saying, “Few better understand what 9/11 meant and what dangers lay ahead than the people of the State of Israel, where acts of terror have for too long been a primary, bloody tactic of enemies sworn to the state’s destruction.”
Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior & Foreign Affairs Committee at the United Arab Emirates' Federal National Council, spoke about contemporary terrorism, saying, “Unfortunately, today we are hearing people say that the war on terror is over. And unfortunately, sometimes politicians say that the war on terror is part of a political agenda, and this is not necessarily true. I want to tell you Israelis – your war on terror is not just your war but the whole world's, and this is how it should be marketed. You are doing so much behind the scenes. Let us be partners and fight it together as a common war using common language against the common terror despite and thanks to religion, which can bring us together or drive us apart. We need to engage religious leaders in the region in our narrative in order to convince the general public. What I heard during the terrorist attack on the US from various sources in the Arab world is the same narrative we hear today with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, 20 years later, and that means one thing – we failed. We failed in the war on terror, we failed in the war on values, we failed in world politics. We need to study this global threat and study what we did and what we should have done.”
During the concluding session of the conference’s opening day, Prof. Boaz Ganor, ICT’s Founder and Executive Director, Prof. Uriel Reichman, Chairman of the Board and Founder of Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) and Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee at the United Arab Emirates' Federal National Council, who also serves as the Executive Chairman of the International Steering Board of Hedayah, the International Center of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism, based in Abu Dhabi, signed a memorandum of understanding for academic cooperation between the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) and Hedayah.