In Israel the tension between the need to maintain an effective organ of counterterrorism and the will to preserve the values of the rule of law reached its peak with the Bus 300 affair. This series of events involved the resort to murder as a counterterrorist method; the use of censorship to hide the method from the public; after censorship failed, a coverup to hide illegality from law enforcement officials; and the president's pardon, which extended to agents of the secret police and which was challenged before and sustained by the High Court of Justice. The struggle over the situation divided the entire leadership of Israel and demonstrated that civil society, justice, and the rule of law are incompatible with counterterrorism. This type of situation and the issues it poses are relevant to any democratic society. 112 footnotes.