Citation

Brym RJ, Maoz-Shai Y. Stud. Conflict Terrorism 2009; 32(7): 611-626.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10576100902961797

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In attempting to explain Israel's retaliatory policies toward Palestinian violence, new institutionalist and rational choice theories vie for dominance. This article argues that both approaches can contribute to understanding the severity of Israel's response if they are viewed as nested explanations appropriate to different threat levels. The article makes its case using data from 74 interviews with senior Israeli counterterrorist experts (2006–07), counts of Israeli and Palestinian fatalities due to state and collective violence (1987–2007), and a database of collective violence events during the Second Intifada (2000–05). Institutional effects are evident at low threat levels, as new institutionalists predict, but these effects are overwhelmed at high threat levels, as rational choice theorists assert.