The paradox of democratic countries that are confronted with the challenges of terrorism has preoccupied scholars for years. The essence of this paradox is that an effective struggle against terrorism exacts a high toll in terms of the basic civil rights that a democratic regime should offer its citizens and residents. This critical chapter argues that in the Israeli context, the tendency of the political leadership to try and satisfy its constituency which then ensued in a demand for extreme counterterrorism measures, the “nation in arms” culture which is manifested in the military establishment’s extensive influence on the political leadership, and the Supreme Court’s tendency to avoid confrontations with military establishment policies, have all led Israel to implement series of extreme CT policies which in the long run led in fact to an escalation of violence and a negative influence on the quality of the Israeli democracy.
