The Man Battling Terror: “The Arab Enemies Come From Within Israel, and That's What’s Dangerous Here”

Riots in mixed cities? Acts of terrorism and vandalism? Molotov cocktails and fear of going out to the streets? If we all followed with dread what took place just a few weeks ago in Israel, it turns out someone decided to take action.

Meir Indor, who heads the 'Almagor' organization for terror victims, is marking a major victory in not a small fight these days. In recent times, he and professionals from the organization have been fighting legally to recognize families affected by those riots as 'terror victims'.

"It wasn't taken for granted," he explains, "since these are people harmed by rioters who are residents of the country; they are not Palestinians, so theoretically they are not enemies. However, it was evident to us that this is terror in every way, so we pressured the Prime Minister and proved that they are enemies. Thank G-d, we managed to do it, and now they are recognized," he says with satisfaction.

The Goal: Exert Pressure

Meir Indor, who founded the 'Almagor' organization and currently heads it, is himself a terror victim. He was hit by bloodthirsty terrorists not once, not twice, but three times. In all these instances, his life was miraculously spared.

The first incident was several decades ago while serving in the 'Rimon' unit; the second time he found himself a terror casualty was on his way to the Western Wall on Shavuot when an Arab broke a bottle and stabbed him in the head, causing bleeding; and there was the third time – on Hoshana Raba about six years ago, when he went to pray at dawn on the Mount of Olives, and on his way back his car was attacked with stones, and he was moderately injured.

(Photo: Almagor)

Indor notes that from his perspective, there are two ways to deal with injuries. "There are those injured who carry the trauma all their lives, talk about it, and dwell on the pain and scars, and there are those who simply look forward. I try to look as forward as possible, among other ways through the organization I founded – the 'Almagor Organization'. I feel this is what helps me maintain sanity in an insane situation like ours."

He founded the organization in 1986, after the 'Jibril Deal' was signed between then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Ahmed Jibril, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In the deal, three Israeli captives from the First Lebanon War were returned, and in exchange, 1,150 terrorists were released.

"At the time, I heard about the disproportionate deal and naturally found myself appealing to the Supreme Court, along with several other families of terror victims and injured like myself. I arrived a bit late after my friends spontaneously broke in; the guards couldn’t stop them, and they reached the courtroom doors. In the end, there was no choice, and they indeed spoke with the judge. This case made waves and received coverage that raised awareness of the major problem in prisoner exchange deals, particularly from the side of terror victims' families. Our claim was that it makes sense to conduct prisoner exchanges, but they must have boundaries and be proportionate. Just as we all understand that we won't dismantle the state to return captives or hand back Jerusalem for that purpose, we must also set boundaries, as not every price is possible, especially since the deal did not include all captives and missing persons Israel negotiated over.

Indor (Photo: Flash 90)

"Unfortunately," he adds, "the terrorists eventually released in the deal are exactly the ones who carried out attacks during the intifada that broke out a year later. 48% of them returned to terror activities and were recaptured. However, we were told later by several sources that if we hadn't intervened, the price would have been much higher, so the pressure we created definitely worked."

An Organization with Goals

Since that day, the Almagor organization has been a pressure group against terrorist release deals, but this is not the only field it is involved in. "Several years after 'Almagor' was founded," recounts Meir Indor, "Officer Nissim Toledano was kidnapped by a Hamas cell on his way to early morning prayers. The organization demanded the release of the then-Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in exchange, but Toledano was eventually murdered by his captors. In response, the Prime Minister expelled 400 Hamas members to Lebanon, but left-wing organizations petitioned the Supreme Court to bring back the deportees. In response, we set up a protest tent outside the deportees' families' tent near the Prime Minister's residence. During the sit-in, we saw the great support our activists received from one another, and we realized that just sitting together was beneficial. This led us to add scheduled meetings for bereaved families to the organization's activities, as well as initiate different clubs, shared trips, and other activities.

"Over time, we also understood the importance of legal activity on this matter since the State of Israel compensates terrorism victims at very high levels, but the problem is not everyone is recognized as a terror victim, and even those who are recognized aren’t always aware of all their rights. The truth is, even I myself am not fully aware of all the rights I have. In this area, there is a need for a lot of help and guidance. For that purpose, we employ activists who guide and assist families. In parallel, we also have quite a few joint trips abroad for Israeli advocacy and battles for Israel worldwide."

After years of relentless combat against Palestinian terror, do you think the state is doing enough to stop it?

"We have no complaints against the state," Indor clarifies. "On the contrary, we see the recent strike in Gaza and are very pleased. It’s clear to us that there are big 'zap and done' wars, like the Six-Day War or the War of Independence, and there are long-lasting campaigns that happen at low intensity, but are most crucial for deterring the enemy. I mean, for instance, the armed forces stationed at the northern and southern borders. Our army operates there all the time, and we should be pleased about that. By the way, it also costs the state tremendous sums, and we should be happy that there’s a possibility and willingness to fund all this operational activity. Of course, there's room for improvement, but, in general, we are very satisfied with the state's activity."

(Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash 90)

A Threat From Within

Indor notes that, by G-d's grace, we are not exposed to the kind of attacks that occurred during the intifada these days. "This is the reason I'm less worried about the radical Islamic faction," he explains, "but I am increasingly concerned about the secular nationalist movement based in Haifa and other parts of the country."

What do you mean?

"I mean, under the nose of the State of Israel, a group of Arab intellectuals has emerged who see themselves as cultured, educated individuals, but in reality, they are Palestinians in every sense. One of them, by the way, is the new Knesset member from the Labor Party, whose inaugural speech in the Knesset was venomous, intelligent, and well-articulated. She doesn't see herself as a citizen of the State of Israel, but rather as a citizen of the 'state of all its citizens'. This is also the sentiment of all those rioting in Jaffa and Lod. They are not merely acting out of a desire to harm Jews, but they see a moral obligation to return these areas to Arab hands, and they are willing to do anything to make it happen. By the way, on this matter, Jewish leftists should also be concerned, because even in the Jerusalem area, there are regions built on lands that Arabs believe belong to them, even the Knesset and the Supreme Court are built on a former Arab village. Arabs see this as theft and occupation, and for them, historical justice will only be achieved when all these areas are returned to Arab hands."

Indor continues to illustrate the threat with harsh descriptions: "One of the flagship documents of that nationalist group is the 'Haifa Charter', where they precisely formulate their vision – a state for all its citizens side by side with the state of Palestine, at all costs. Again, I am talking here about intellectual Arabs living in the land, and this is the greatest threat facing us these days. They themselves won't commit attacks, as they are hedonistic people, but they create all the ideological and literary framework needed to encourage others to do so."

Indor states that one place where this manifests is the Arab theater in Haifa. "Recently, we sent detectives to the theater who filmed what is happening there, and it turned out that calling it a 'wasp’s nest' is an understatement. They documented Arabs in smart attire and modern clothing sitting and glorifying the assassin of soldier Moshe Tamam, may G-d avenge his blood, even calling him a 'Palestinian fighter'. We were astonished by the scale of the phenomenon because these are residents of Haifa who supposedly always advocate coexistence, and now it turns out they are collaborators with the Palestinians in every sense of the word. By the way, they are the ones who also stirred the Sheikh Jarrah riots in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood; they may be distant, but they act in coordination. True, they are academics and learned individuals, but to them, they have no Israeli identity, but a Palestinian identity. Although they are not religious, 'Al-Aqsa' for them is a tool for mobilizing the masses."

That sounds extremely alarming. How can they be stopped?

"I can tell you about what we are doing towards that – we are trying to do everything we can to legally arrest them for incitement. I myself am engaged in this almost daily, but it seems to me that most involved authorities haven’t yet grasped the potential here because it’s not something set to pass in a day or two, but this is going to be our next battle. The more educated these people are, the more it seems outwardly that they integrate with us, but the fact is that on the day they declared a strike, they managed to paralyze us too. They have all the ways to really harm us, as they grow within us, they are part of us."

Indor emphasizes that he heard from one of the rabbis that "there is no commandment to increase hatred among the Gentiles." "I try to adjust my actions according to this perspective," he says, "and truthfully, I have committed to reducing hatred as much as possible, as it is known that Esau hates Jacob, and there's no need to escalate it further. On the other hand, it's clear that just because we don’t want to stir up hatred, we cannot refrain from fighting or punishing. Thus, our organization does not support, G-d forbid, hate crimes and riots but primarily operates in the legal domain. In our opinion, the more we struggle, the more we can prompt the police to do more, because in our view, they are not acting sufficiently. Also, the Attorney General could do more, especially since every complaint about incitement must go through his office to ensure it does not harm individual freedoms.

"That's exactly what we are trying to do," he concludes, "to act as much as possible in all ways and relentlessly combat these disturbing phenomena. Because the attacks of 2021 have changed their character. Nowadays, they are no longer on buses like in the 90s, but frighteningly, they exist very much within us, and it's no less threatening."