The issue of counterterrorism is at the top of the agenda of many governments throughout the world, especially when they are addressing the implications of the return of their citizens who fought alongside the global jihad organizations in Syria and Iraq.

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is hosting delegates from 28 states and organizations taking part in an International Conference on Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism organized in partnership with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), and the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Conference places Israel in the forefront of the legal fight against terrorism, with delegates attending from the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Egypt and more.

Discussions at the conference, initiated by the Israel Foreign Ministry’s Strategic Affairs Division and the Legal Division, focused on a variety of issues, including methods of handling classified intelligence derived evidence in the court systems when dealing with cases of terrorism. Many states face the dilemma of how to convict terrorists within the justice system without jeopardizing its sources. The delegates also discussed the investigation and prosecution of bodies which finance terrorism and engage in money laundering.

In the course of the conference, the representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Justice presented the outlines of the new Israeli national counterterrorism legislation, currently under discussion in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which will serve as a model for national legislation that will maintain the balance between preventing terrorism and protecting human rights – an issue which is today receiving prominent attention in the international arena.

“The issue of counterterrorism is at the top of the agenda of many governments throughout the world,” says Dana Benvenisti-Gabay, Director of the MFA Regional Security Department, “especially today, when many states are addressing the implications of the return of their citizens who fought alongside the global jihad organizations in Syria and Iraq.” She added, “There is considerable interest in these states to come to Israel to learn from its acquired experience in combating and preventing terrorism.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)