As Israelis all over the world breathe a collective sigh of relief that eighteen more hostages are finally home – with hopefully more to follow soon – the Israeli government will need to confront the reality that hostage-taking of its citizens abroad is likely to increase.

Such kidnapping efforts have already stepped up. Last month, the National Security Council warned of escalated attempts by the Iranian regime to lure Israelis abroad, with the aim to harm or kidnap them. This warning followed Iranian operatives’ attempts to target an Israeli businessman by luring him to the United Arab Emirates. Fortunately, the plot was thwarted.

This problem is not unique to Israel, and lessons can be learned from other jurisdictions. Hostage-taking is a common tool used by authoritarian regimes and terrorist groups alike. In particular, the increasing use of “hostage diplomacy” – the taking hostage of an individual on the basis of their nationality, to pressure their government to take or refrain from taking a particular action – is a phenomenon with which rights-respecting governments all over the world are now seriously contending.