The terror and struggles we are experiencing as a nation are entirely environmental. By environmental, I do not mean weather or slogans. I mean the environment the child grew up in: what he was taught, what work existed, what the street rewarded, whether the State was a source of care or only of grievance. That environment produced the terrorist. There is nothing genetic about hate. People are not born prejudiced; they are placed in an environment that creates prejudice. If we wish to see an end to terror, then we must do something radically different.

Where do we see the greatest number of terrorists and suicide bombers being created? In the West Bank and Gaza. Has this policy of suicide bombing declined? We see them created where the child is raised in otherness: crowded camps and disconnected towns cut off from Israeli society and from the ordinary benefits of a working civic life—steady work, a decent school, a clinic that is not a faction office, a path that is not the militia.

The idea of benign dominance is that the State desires what is best for the citizens, with the understanding that by caring for each individual, that individual is more likely to contribute to and be loyal to the State. BDT fosters loyalty to the State because the State genuinely cares about citizens’ welfare. Well-fed, happy, educated citizens are more likely to seek meaningful employment, less likely to be homeless, and less likely to be violent offenders. The motive of the State is the well-being of the citizens. This strengthens the State.

Terror ends when we remove the environment that fostered the terror in the first place. If we look at populations with high crime rates, it is young males with high unemployment. If we wish to strengthen the State, we must build........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)