Terrorist State

A depiction of Israel as a terrorist state is a generalised, essentialising description in which the state in its entirety is classed as a terrorist entity, and thus by definition excluded from the global community of legitimate nation-states. To accuse Israel of being a terrorist state is therefore to portray it as inherently evil and a potential target for retribution, while attacking Israel's legitimacy in a way that denies Israel's right to exist. Labelling Israel as a terrorist state in this way should be held distinct from accusations of Israeli ‘state terror,’ ‘state-sponsored terrorism,’ or the description of any particular Israeli military action or leader as ‘terroristic.’ While such descriptions may be wrong, hyperbolic or exaggerated, they are nonetheless fairly frequent within discourses criticising various states’ foreign or military policies and do not necessarily ascribe a particular evil to the state of Israel or call its legitimacy into question.