User:Mar4d/Israel

Several scholars and international politicians have accused Israel of conducting state sponsored terrorism. These accusations have mainly come in reference to Israel's conduct in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

General critiques
According to George Meggle in Ethics of Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism, Israel has on many occasions used terrorism while in conflict with Palestinians and neighbouring Arab states. Meggle mentions that the tactics Israel used in suppressing the Second Intifada qualify for state terrorism, while at the same time also accusing Israel's neighbours of "supporting Palestinian terrorism against Israel."

The way Israeli police put down the demostrations of Palestinians living in Israel proper, as its citizens, in October 2000 – by shooting at them with rubber-coated and live ammunition and killing thirteen – may well qualify as state terrorism. If it does, that shows how the willingness to resort to terrorism abroad can eventually encourage its use at home.

Accusations by international politicians
In November 2012, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey called Israel a "terrorist state" in its role in carrying out its bombardment of Gaza during the Operation Pillar of Defense. While addressing the Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, Erdoğan said: "Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza. For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts."