Working Paper: NBER ID: w16493
Authors: Efraim Benmelech; Claude Berrebi; Esteban Klor
Abstract: 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.
Keywords: counterterrorism; house demolitions; suicide terrorism
JEL Codes: H56; K42; O53
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| punitive house demolitions (H13) | decrease in suicide attacks (H56) |
| precautionary house demolitions (H84) | increase in suicide attacks (H56) |
| punitive house demolitions (H13) | suicide terrorists from an average district (Y40) |
| precautionary house demolitions (H84) | suicide terrorists from an average district (Y40) |