The test of Israel’s national resilience is discussed in the following article. The author emphasizes that Israeli resilience has successfully met the challenges of terrorism, rockets, and missiles, which have replaced the conventional threat as Israel’s principal challenge. Yet in addition, Israel must exhibit social and cognitive resilience, which encompasses several internal factors that threaten to undermine this stamina: efforts at DE legitimization, economic gaps, the debate on the Palestinian conflict, the reduced adulation of...
This essay looks at the hostility and racist attitudes between much of Israel’s Jewish majority and Arab minority. Complementing their look at the incitement in the Arab sector toward the Jewish population is their discussion of the contradictory posture by Israel’s government toward Arab citizens. While steps have been taken to encourage the economic integration of the Arab sector, other measures rebuff the sector’s social and political integration. The authors emphasize the need for law enforcement and determination in the...
The essay focuses on cognitive warfare and analyzes the changes that have occurred in the map of threats in recent years. In addition to kinetic weapons, the effect of the cognitive warfare waged by states and non-state organizations on the internet and the social networks has come to the fore in recent years. The author therefore recommends that the IDF invest carefully in force buildup and develop a range of capabilities in the cognitive arena on the internet and other communications media, together with a buildup of kinetic...
This article surveys the large number of theaters and the differences between the enemies in Israel’s first circle of conflict. The analysis highlights the uniqueness of the various theaters in which the IDF operates, and stresses that the diversity of the challenges in the respective spheres requires rethinking the adapted response patterns. A concept that gives preference to response formulation and force buildup tailored to the specific needs of the various theaters (e.g., the West Bank; borders with the countries having a peace...
In the early morning hours of December 22, 2016, the Knesset approved Israel’s state budget for 2017-2018. Within this package, the defense budget component was the product of joint work by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Defense, based on the Kahlon-Ya’alon agreement. Significantly, the defense budget was drafted without the wrangling characteristic of the dynamic between the ministries in previous years, and the significant improvements in the process of drafting the budget are highly commendable. Issues...
of law and the independence of the Supreme Court. National policy toward the Palestinians was not central to my resignation, but it is no secret that I differed on that front as well with some in the government and the Knesset in which I served.
On December 12, 2016, the first two F-35A jet fighters (dubbed “Adir,” in Israel) will land in Israel. Two batches have been ordered, totaling 33 planes, and Israel’s security cabinet recently authorized another request; this will bring the total number of Israel’s F-35 aircraft to 50 planes. The acquisition of the F-35 was controversial in Israel, and questions were raised as to the need to acquire such an expensive aircraft. Yet with its modern technology, the “Adir” has great potential, and will undoubtedly make it easier for the...
The public discourse during Operation Protective Edge (2014) reflected a higher degree of willingness to accept military casualties than it had during previous wars or operations, particularly the Second Lebanon War (2006). In this article, I seek to clarify the prevailing argument regarding Israeli society’s greater willingness to accept military deaths, and to show that this argument should not be accepted at face value. My argument is that casualty sensitivity exists, but it is more complex than it appears to be and is also...
Recent security incidents to Israel’s north and south brought the country’s attention back to its most explosive fronts. On both fronts the IDF faces terror organizations, Hezbollah and Hamas, that have institutionalized and taken on characteristics of states. Despite the lack of interest in escalation on the part of all relevant parties, deterioration on both fronts could lead to an outbreak of hostilities. Israel’s supreme interest is security and quiet on its borders. Hezbollah and Hamas have not given up on the intent to...
