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A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism. By Daniel Byman. Oxford University Press; 496 pages; $34.95 and Pounds 20
WHAT can the world learn from Israel about counterterrorism? Quite a lot, one might think. In a new book Daniel Byman sets out to extract that learning in this survey of Israel's responses to its foes, from the early Palestinian fedayeen raids and the first aircraft hijackings to the rocket attacks of Hamas and Hizbullah, taking in right-wing Jewish terrorism along the way.
Yet the broader lessons for other countries fighting asymmetric conflicts are few. That is partly because Mr Byman draws hardly any comparisons with them--an odd omission, given his stated goal--but also partly because, as he notes, Israel has usually been better at specific tactics than overall strategy. Under constant threat, with fractious coalition governments that cave in easily to public demands for reprisal, and with practically no institutions for long-term...