Security guards in Jerusalem. Site: Wikipedia

As New York City ramped up security in the wake of last Friday’s deadly assault by ISIS in Paris, a former Mossad chief told conservative site Breitbart that deploying armed guards at cafes, theaters and shops, as is done in Israel, would be advisable for the US and European coutries.

Stationing guards at these types of soft targets — including public transportation as well — is part of what Shabtai Shavit called Israel’s three-pronged approach to combating terrorism.

The other two are intelligence-gathering and an offensive strategy, which in this case would involve targeting ISIS strongholds like Raqqa in Syria, the group’s self-declared capital that France has been bombarding since Friday’s attacks.

Still, Shavit was adamant that good intelligence-gathering was the first and most important step, because “the more intelligence you have, the smaller the threat you will have to face.” Next, it is necessary to find the right balance between offensive and defensive measures.

He said the Israeli defense strategy “consists of guards at each and every mall, train station, and so on and so forth,” though occasional Israeli reports have indicated that this is not always followed. Israel stepped up security at soft targets, especially in response to their particular vulnerability to suicide bombers during the Second Intifada.

Shavit also told Breitbart that the West has not done enough to arm the Kurds, whose people inhabit an arc of land from Iran through Iraq, into Turkey and down through Syria. He said they could serve as the boots on the ground willing and able to confront ISIS.