"Most Israelis have never had access to what we saw and experienced," Pearce said. "We witnessed first-hand how military and civilian officials on the front lines work every day to stop terrorists and how they must continue to adapt their defenses to counter the evolving threat.”

Highlights of the program, which was sponsored by the non-partisan Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, include:

• touring a prison for terrorists, which culminated in a face-to-face meeting with terrorist-convicts in the prison yard
  
• visiting the Gaza Strip to observe how the Israelis control exit and entry and prevent terrorists from moving people and weapons across the border
  
• attending a training session with an elite undercover police unit established to capture terror suspects
  
• visiting a naval base at the northern border with Lebanon, where the terror group Hezbollah's position could be observed just over a nearby hill.
  

"The experience put our own struggle against terrorism into clearer perspective," Pearce said. "It also provided valuable lessons for protecting Americans from future terrorist attacks. I look forward to sharing what I learned with my students and using it in my research."

7/05