TY  - JOUR
AU  - Benmelech,Efraim
AU  - Berrebi,Claude
AU  - Klor,Esteban
TI  - Counter-Suicide-Terrorism: Evidence from House Demolitions
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 16493
PY  - 2010
Y2  - October 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16493
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16493.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Efraim Benmelech
Harvard University
Department of Economics
Littauer 233
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/496-4787
Fax: 617/495-8570
E-Mail: effi_benmelech@harvard.edu

Claude Berrebi
The Federmann School of
Public Policy and Government
Hebrew University
Mount Scopus
Jerusalem ISRAEL 91905
E-Mail: Claude_Berrebi@rand.org

Esteban Klor
Dept. of Economics
Hebrew University
Mount Scopus
Jerusalem ISRAEL 91905
E-Mail: eklor@mscc.huji.ac.il
AB  - This paper examines whether house demolitions are an effective counterterrorism tactic against suicide terrorism. We link original longitudinal micro-level data on houses demolished by the Israeli Defense Forces with data on the universe of suicide attacks against Israeli targets. By exploiting spatial and time variation in house demolitions and suicide terror attacks during the second Palestinian uprising, we show that punitive house demolitions (those targeting Palestinian suicide terrorists and terror operatives) cause an immediate, significant decrease in the number of suicide attacks. The effect dissipates over time and by geographic distance. In contrast, we observe that precautionary house demolitions (demolitions justified by the location of the house but not related to the identity or any action of the house’s owner) cause a significant increase in the number of suicide terror attacks. The results are consistent with the view that selective violence is an effective tool to combat terrorist groups, whereas indiscriminate violence backfires.
ER  -