TEL AVIV, July 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Lawmakers from Russia and Israel have agreed to formulate and promote a single universally accepted definition of terrorism, the Russian Federation Council’s press service said on Wednesday.

A delegation from Russia’s upper house of parliament in Israel put forward an initiative to improve counter-terrorism international law.

Alexander Chekalin, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, said international legislation in this sphere was merely “declaratory” and subject to political manipulations. It was necessary to introduce a precise definition of terrorist activities in international law to exclude the possibility of considering terrorist organizations to be liberation movements, he said.

Vladimir Kulakov, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on the House Rules and Parliamentary Performance Management, said international legal norms lack a clear and generally agreed definition of terrorism.

“As parliamentarians, we could issue a proposal to international organizations, first of all, to the United Nations, to finally define the term, and consequently the approach to countering terrorists,” he said.

The Israeli side has welcomed the Federation Council’s initiative. Yariv Levin, chairman of the governing coalition in the Knesset, expressed readiness to improve norms of international law and to make them adapt to modern counter-terrorism practices.