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"This is the first time that anyone in Israel has put up a site on the Internet which can serve as an answer to Hezbollah and Hamas propaganda," a defense source said.

"We expect this to be the leading site in counterterrorism available on the Internet," said Boaz Ganor, director-general of the Herzliya-based institute.

According to Ganor, the site will have the most comprehensive concentration of information on international terrorist groups and is aimed at academics, researchers, decisionmakers and journalists. But he stressed that anyone can access it, free of charge.

Besides academic papers, Ganor said the site will have some unique features, such as a daily terror bulletin, and will be updated with breaking news.

"It is alive and dynamic," Ganor said.

He said information and analysis of international terrorist incidents would be posted when such incidents occur. For the moment, the site will contain data on terror groups, statistics on attacks and links between terror and criminal organizations. It will also have a searchable database on terrorist attacks worldwide.

The data is being assembled from various sources, including the U.S. State Department. Ganor said the institute plans to have both Hebrew and Arabic translations of parts of its English-language site in the near future.

"One of the triggers for opening this site is an examination of what is happening on the Internet. Terrorist organizations are sprouting like mushrooms after the rain. When you look for counterterrorism, you find very few," Ganor said.

The institute plans to open a "counterterrorism forum" where visitors can pose questions, Ganor said.

"But we will retain the ability to screen questions, to keep out queries on things like how to prepare a car bomb."