Discussion is currently underway on aproposed amendment to Israel’s Defense Service Law that could have historicimplications for the status of women in the IDF and in Israeli society. Thespecial committee headed by MK Ayelet Shaked will soon conclude itsdeliberations and forward the proposed amendment to a vote in its second andthird reading in the Knesset. The bill, known as the “Equal Burden Law,” dealsprimarily with drafting yeshiva students in the IDF, but it would also cutmen’s service from thirty-six to thirty-two months, and...
This article discusses active protection in response to the rocket threat to Israel’s home front. The defense establishment anticipates that in an allout war, the home front would be attacked for about thirty days, and that every day there would be about one thousand rocket and missile hits that would cause thousands of casualties as well as damage to infrastructures and strategic sites. Israel has an active protection system with five layers of interceptor missiles, and in cooperation with the United States, it developed Nautilus, a...
The prime minister’s military secretary is an officer with the rank of major general whose official role is to serve as a liaison between the prime minister and the IDF and other security agencies. In practice, his duties are more extensive, and thus his position is one of the most influential ones in the decision making process on security issues in Israel. Nevertheless, the military secretary does not have formal responsibility in the realm of national security, nor does he have a professional staff at his disposal. On certain...
Unmanned tools and systems play an increasingly large role in the modern battlefields, as these tools have significant advantages that encourage many countries and violent non-state actors to develop and use them. At the same time, this advanced technology raises moral, ethical, legal, and social concerns and questions. This article explains basic terms in the area of unmanned warfare, examines the developments made in the past twenty years, and presents the United States’ future plans in the field. It raises various challenges...
This article offers a structural analysis of the relations between the military and the political echelon on the basis of theories concerning the military’s bargaining space vis-à-vis the government. It contends that when the military perceives the conduct of politicians as harmful, it has a tendency to resist by demonstrating its independence and attempting to thwart the politicians’ will. The form and intensity of the military’s opposition is derived from the intersection between the level of perceived harm done to the military and...
This essay examines the prevalent theoretical approaches to decision making and surveys practical models appropriate to the military setting. It discusses and compares the relative advantages and disadvantages of each model, and then makes recommendations about their application to the military decision making process. Currently, two major approaches, the rational and the cognitive, offer an orderly process that may help military leaders make better decisions. Neither is yet complete. Each approach offers its own set of concepts to...
Among the many issues raised at the sixth annual INSS conference on the preparedness of the home front on July 25, 2013 was the lack of a clear, normative definition of authority and responsibility for management of the Israeli home front. The full severity of this lapse arose seven years ago, following the exposure of failures on the civilian front during the Second Lebanon War, and it has since been discussed repeatedly in various forums and committees. This lapse was also the focus of a series of critical reports by the state...
If the diplomatic steps taken by Israel fail, including some at the highest political level, the EU Commission will publish in its Official Journal “Guidelines on the Eligibility of Israeli Entities and their Activities in the Territories Occupied by Israel since June 1967 for Grants, Prizes and Financial Instruments Funded by the EU from 2014 Onwards.” At first glance this step may appear to have only marginal ramifications, but in the long run this is a precedent that may cause the Israeli economy serious damage, even...
The ethical doctrine of the war on terror is a set of principles that reflects an orderly conception dealing with the proper ways of conducting warfare against terrorism. Such a doctrine mediates between abstract values such as the “IDF spirit,” designed to guide commanders’ and soldiers’ behavior in any circumstances during their operations, and regulations, ROEs, and orders given to guide their behavior in a mission of a certain kind, under specific circumstances, at a specific time, and in a specific place....
This article focuses on the Iron Dome system, which entered into operational service in early 2011 and demonstrated what it was capable of within a few months of its deployment. The article attempts to examine the lessons from the system’s deployment and to reassess the decision about purchasing the system. It will also examine future ramifications of deploying this system and other systems that are expected to enter into service in the near future.
The study presents the results of the most recent public opinion survey on questions of national security conducted regularly over the past twenty-seven years by INSS. It compares the data with findings from previous surveys, focusing largely on data since 2006 and thereby giving a picture of key trends in Israeli public opinion over a six year period. The authors show that the political center continues to dominate Israeli public opinion, continuing a trend of previous years. At the same time, the slow but steady shift of recent...
