Every strategy proposes a plan of action for changing the situation. In his book on strategy, Prof. Lawrence Freedman defines strategy as “the art of building power.” It is the ability “to get more out of a situation than the starting balance of power would permit.” At the same time, alongside strategies of “what to do” are prohibitions of “what not to do”: the Ten Commandments, the Code of Hammurabi in Mesopotamia, Islamic prohibitions on consuming alcohol and charging interest, and the imperative to prevent harm to noncombatants in...
Clausewitz’s well-known saying—“War is nothing but the continuation of policy by other means”—continues to echo in the public sphere. Researcher Gal Finkel (Ma’arachot, September 2021) and former Knesset member, researcher, and journalist Ofer Shelah, in several recent remarks, have underscored its relevance to Israel’s wars: War is not an end or a goal but merely a means of achieving a political objective.
Clausewitz wrote for his time, when war was conducted between regular armies and intended to realize monarchical interests of...
According to the German philosopher Hegel, history is written by universal reason, which reveals itself only when the future becomes reality and visible to the eye. This universal reason deceives the actors of history while they are preoccupied with the pursuit of political power, military conquests, glory, or wealth. Thus, the Israeli victory in 1967 brought down the barriers that had separated the various parts of the Palestinian people. At the end of the Six-Day War, the vast majority of the Palestinian nation found itself within...
From the distance of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte observes the Swords of Iron war. His motto in conducting wars is victory at any cost, and he moves the test of victory from the subjective realm of opinion to the objective realm of establishing facts. Among his insights are when the enemy is in flight, either a bridge of gold should be built or a wall of steel. Although Napoleon does not elaborate on strategy, he offers in this context a piercing observation: “Strategy is the art of making use of time and space.”
The Israel–Hamas war of 2023–2024, known in Israel as the “Swords of Iron” war, has revived the famous adage of Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz—that “war is a continuation of politics by other means.” This saying has become a basis for criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has so far refrained from adopting a political strategy to end the war in the Gaza Strip and address the “day after.”
Meanwhile, a growing number of voices claim that prolonging the war is Netanyahu’s strategy, particularly given his legal...
On October 7, in the Gaza Division, they didn’t sleep in their boots. Had they slept in their boots, as is customary in field units along the borders, the division’s forces would have gone on alert at dawn and would have been prepared for battle with the Nukhba terrorists.
In contrast, Israel’s athletes at the Paris Olympics won barefoot: Seven Olympic medals were awarded to Israeli athletes in sailing, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, and the floor exercise. It turns out that total victory in competitive sports is possible—even without...
Advocating the separation between the military and politics treats the IDF like a governmental tool – while ignoring, either knowingly or not, the fact that the people who serve in the IDF are, first and foremost, citizens. The outcome of “separating the military from politics” is the nullification of the idea that the IDF is the people’s army, whose values are entrenched in the values of the people – including the very clear distinction between not volunteering and the refusal to serve. It is no coincidence that reserve pilots from...
Every state, governed by any type of regime, faces a paradox: to fulfill its basic obligation to defend the lives of its citizens from external enemies, it puts these same citizens in danger by conscripting them into the army. In order to resolve this conundrum, the state turns to creative solutions, including the recruitment of mercenaries, security outsourcing, and use of firepower instead of maneuver. Do these responses offer a solution to the paradox?
In today’s complex and fluid reality, what are Israel’s war goals? An objective military victory along the lines of the Six Day War seems impossible. A subjective victory, by way of a “victory image,” is a matter for PR and propaganda aimed at public opinion. A “victory image,” being a Clausewitzian objective of a “political gain,” is not a legitimate goal for a democracy defending itself. Furthermore, in an asymmetrical war involving a multitude of participants and threats, where Israel is...
One may distinguish between two manifestations of political and military strategy: surgical strategy versus therapeutic strategy. In the struggle against Hezbollah, Israel’s prime interest is to drive a wedge between Hezbollah’s Lebanese identity and the fact that it is a Shiite tool driven by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The more Hezbollah integrates into Lebanese politics, the more it becomes a partner with those responsible for Lebanon, casting its own destiny with that of the nation. By contrast, the more Hezbollah leader Hassan...
The essence of “victory” can be understood as a state of resolve. Beyond this proposed definition, it is necessary to distinguish between two manifestations of victory: subjective or objective. Subjective victory is cognitive, and always subject to individual judgment. Objective victory is factual and thus is subject to a factual state of affairs. “Victory image” is a concept that is shared by subjective victory and objective victory, but at the same time, blurs the distinction between them. Images of objective victory are “invisible...
