Military and Strategic Affairs

(This essay is an edited transcript of the chief of staff’s speech at the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies in January 2016.) The challenges facing the Israel Defense (IDF) Forces (IDF) in the foreseeable future are composed of three main factors. The first is Israel’s rapidly changing strategic environment. The nuclear deal between Iran and the superpowers and the subsequent lifting of the sanctions against Iran constitute a strategic turning point for the IDF’s major threat over the past decade. The...

Relations between the military and political echelons in Israel are complex and multifaceted, both in theory and in practice. The problems resulting from the interface between the two have at times resulted in ineffective military deployment or a crisis of expectations. Moreover, as the positions of the political echelon are never unanimous, its directives to the military have not always been aligned with the government’s position, and sometimes even have been nebulous. In August 2015, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a...

Information sharing in cyberspace includes the sharing of attack methods, tools and means of attack, targets of an attack, weaknesses discovered, and ways of dealing with threats. Information sharing constitutes a strategic defensive principle. It is aimed at enhancing general strength in cyberspace. Various and diverse information-sharing initiatives are currently operating in Israel and throughout the world, but they are not as effective as they could be. This article addresses a number of economic and political challenges facing...

The Israeli Home Front Command has undergone many phases of change until having reached its present level of preparedness for providing the adequate response to man-made security challenges. This level of performance raises several serious questions regarding its capacity to serve as Israel’s primary agent of response to major disruptions, extensive man-made security hazards, and natural novel risks. Its future success in standing up to wide-scale challenges will depend not only on its own level of preparedness, but also on its...

Since the beginning of time, the collection of human intelligence (HUMINT) has been the cornerstone of gaining an advantage over one’s enemies. Over the past fifty years, the United States, under three particular administrations, has tried to end the process of HUMINT collection. HUMINT has always been associated with tradecraft and the necessity to work with unsavory characters. The information gleaned from these characters, however, has proven both vital and important in terms of defending against a threat as well as pursuing an...

The threat posed by the Islamic State to many nations has led to the formation of an international coalition whose forces have been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. Some of the bombings in Syria have targeted the strongholds of the Khorasan group. Very little is known about this group. It appears to be an international terrorist cell that settled in Syria under the cover of the country’s chaos in order to plan attacks against the West and train its members to carry them out. In September 2014, the United States...

The discourse on the root causes of the Boko Haram domestic terrorism group rages on in Nigeria, as extremists continue to lure destitute militants to their cause. Counter-terrorism needs to focus its efforts on eradicating the breeding grounds for these impoverished sympathizers. A new strategy and a new method should be adopted to prevent the threat of domestic terrorism. Fighting domestic terrorism with human development, specifically social and economic development, should emerge as a new public narrative and long-term objective...

This essay discusses the role of the IDF’s fighter helicopters in Israel’s ongoing war against non-state actors. The essay first discusses the theoretical aspect of deploying aerial forces in a war against non-state actors and the advantages inherent in attack helicopters. The second part of the essay analyses the use of helicopters in armies around the world in this type of warfare, highlighting the IDF’s unique modus operandi, which is discussed in the third part of the essay. The essay’s conclusion is that the IDF does not view...

Cyber-attacks are often viewed in academic and military writings as strategic asymmetric weapons, great equalizers with the potential of leveling the battlefield between powerful nations and those less capable.  However, there has been little evidence to suggest that cyber-attacks are a genuine military option in a state-on-state conflict. In instances of actual military operations (e.g., Afghanistan, Georgia, Iraq, and Israel/Gaza), there is little accompanying evidence of a military conducting cyber-attacks against either a...

This essay examines the tactics used by IDF representatives in their interviews with Arab television channels to maintain the legitimacy of the struggle against the Palestinians and justify the use of force in that struggle. The essay, based on research analyzing dozens of interviews held by the al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya networks with IDF spokespeople, shows that the IDF uses three primary tactics to achieve that goal: denial, avoidance of responsibility, and attempts to downplay the perceived measure of aggression of the event in...

The turmoil that has beset the Middle East since December 2010 deepened the instability and surfaced various conflicts and tensions that have been characteristic of the region throughout history. These events reveal the importance of non-state actors in the Middle East and give rise to the need to rethink “facts,” terms, and concepts connected to the phenomenon of the nation-state, practically and theoretically. Although non-state actors are not new in the global or Middle Eastern political landscape, it is evident that the...

The growing use of information technology, monitoring, and control through computerized control systems, together with the increasing dependence of the free market on products and services supplied through infrastructure (for example, electric power), have increased interdependency between infrastructures. Consequently, an attack on critical infrastructure is liable to have a decisive effect on the functioning of other infrastructures. The interdependence between infrastructures requires those involved in planning a cyber-attack as...

Three rounds of violence between Israel and Hamas since 2008 have not resulted in any change to the fundamental essence of the conflict. Israel is trapped in an asymmetrical conflict with increasingly intense violence, a reality in which Hamas manages to prove the “Paradox of Power”: Israel’s military strength becomes its weakness while Hamas’ military weakness becomes its strength. Seeing Gaza as a state-like entity and declaring war on it may help alter public opinion, allowing for definition of clear goals and less engagement in...

The success of the Islamic State (ISIS) includes the integration of interrelated elements in a way that helps the organization consolidate its control of extensive regions, serve as the current spearhead in the global Jihad effort, and threaten the world with terrorist attacks carried out by its agents holding citizenship in a Western country. These agents are liable to return to their homeland and along with “lone wolves” they are liable to carry out terrorist attacks against targets in the West. The aim of this article is to...

This study examines and measures the social resilience of the residents of the Gaza Strip area during Operation Protective Edge in summer 2014 and thereafter. We provide an overview of the concept of resilience, focusing on the phenomenon of bouncing back towards recovery following the functional decline as a result of stressful events. Social resilience is measured here by three behavioral yardsticks: demographics and evacuation, therapeutics and education, and employment and economics. We chose two regional councils to represent...

Casualties first appeared on the public, political-military, and media agenda in the democratic, Western world in the 1990s. This article seeks to examine the Israeli media’s coverage of military casualties during Operation Protective Edge, especially in light of past patterns of reporting. Despite the public feeling that the operation was necessary, coverage did not totally revert to “traditional” patterns. During the case in point, the media dealt with causalities and the human price paid in war; however, it tried consciously to...

This essay examines the new civilian protest movement formed in the western Negev during Operation Protective Edge, and its implications for the political security discourse at the local and national level in Israel. Although this social movement arose out of a local security hardship, its activity is relevant to the country as a whole; the movement challenges the “rounds approach” that has emerged in recent years as the prevalent pattern of action in the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The movement tries to convey the message...

Operation Protective Edge (July 7-August 26, 2014) was the longest and most complex military challenge in a continuing cycle of violence between the State of Israel and Hamas since the organization’s inception in 1987. It is still too early to assess the achievements and the results of the military campaign, which are still not sufficiently clear for either side, and to determine whether Israel succeeded in achieving its primary aim of establishing longterm deterrence. Throughout the campaign, Hamas used all its capabilities,...

In February 2015, the Israeli government approved the establishment of the National Cyber Defense Authority, which will constitute the state’s operational arm for the defense of the civilian sphere against cyber threats. One of the state’s challenges is to integrate the private sector in this activity, both as the main consumer of defense and as a participant in the defense system. This article proposes a strategy for the state’s handling of this problem. In general, it is proposed that the state will defend the national...

Over the last two years, the Islamic State organization has become one of the most dangerous elements in the Middle East. Its very existence, essence, and actions affect many nations throughout the world; its effect is most striking in the Middle East. This terrorist organization, flying the black flag as its official banner, represents an extreme branch of orthodox Sunni Islam, challenging all existing orders of governance and seeking to replace them with an Islamic regime that imitates the conduct and way of life typical of the...

As a follow-up to the article “Blood and Treasure” published in Military and Strategic Affairs in March 2014, the author argues that military commanders and economists need to work together, rather than in parallel channels that never intersect.

This essay focuses on how the Islamic State and other non-state actors use media and technology to influence individuals and groups by combining Internet activity with activity in the real world. The Islamic State functions in an actual physical and geographical space, in cyberspace, and within the conscious realm. Eachserves the Islamic State’s communications, propaganda, psychological warfare, and recruitment, influencing individuals and groups and inducing them to carry out “spontaneous” acts of terrorism. The way the Islamic...

The rapid development of cyberspace has led to a growing threat of criminally motivated cybertheft of intellectual property in general, and of commercial and private digital trade secrets in particular. This kind of cybercrime could have a critical impact on the international macro-economic system, including potential massive loss of tax revenue and drop in GDP. While most countries have strategic cyber defense doctrines to protect their physical critical infrastructures against politically motivated cyber warfare, they still lack...

Cyberspace is becoming the primary and most effective tool for commercial espionage and the theft of information and intellectual property. It allows the attacker a technological shortcut, giving him the competitive edge over the market in general and the defender in particular. This essay examines whether the need to confront cyberspace threats in general and, more specifically, organizational information security affects the considerations of decision makers in commercial enterprises. Decisions relating to the feasibility of...

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...

The “Thucydides Trap” refers to the propensity in history for rising states to challenge putative hegemons or other leading powers for international position, sometimes resulting in war. China’s growing military and economic power in the twenty-first century challenges American and Russian leadership on international security issues, including nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. Yet strategic nuclear arms reductions have still proceeded in a two-sided framework of US-Russian negotiations. Despite obvious difficulties, China...

The cyber era has caused enormous changes in intelligence and intelligence gathering. This article discusses whether the profession of human intelligence (HUMINT) is currently still relevant when cyberspace constitutes the main scene for intelligence gathering and action. If so, what missions should it assume, and are new opportunities being created for new operational methods in the cyber era? The article examines the substance of the HUMINT discipline and the challenges that cyberspace poses to this discipline. It also addresses...

The processes that led to the Second Lebanon War and the events that took place during the war are analyzed six years after the war. The starting point for the analysis is the withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, which, according to the analysis, was justified. However, from a broad perspective, it is evident that the overall processes since the withdrawal led to strategic choices that resulted in the IDF’s reduced operational preparedness. The article examines the decision making processes near the start of and during the course of the...

The spread of nuclear weapons in Asia threatens nuclear deterrence and crisis stability in the region and offers unique challenges to United States and allied security. The article contrasts two possible futures for nuclear Asia: a relatively more constrained proliferation regime with tiered levels of agreed deployment ceilings among states; and an unconstrained nuclear arms race in Asia. Not only regional tensions, but also the overlap between regional and global antagonisms and ambitions might upset nuclear deterrence stability in...

Cyberspace is especially suited to the theft of business information and to espionage. The accessibility of information, along with the ability to remain anonymous and cover one’s tracks, allows various entities to engage in the theft of valuable information, an act that can cause major damage. Israel, rich in advanced technology and a leader in innovation-based industries that rely on unique intellectual property, is a prime target for cyber theft and commercial cyber attacks. This article examines the scope of cyber theft and cyber...

This article argues that there is little difference between military thinking and true economic thinking, which is different from accounting-budgetary thinking. Most of the substantive disagreements between military commanders and economists stem from objective difficulties in predicting the future and quantifying the important components of risk, cost, and benefit. Other disagreements result from vested interests or mere egotistical issues. The article will also explore the problematic manner in which the defense budget is drafted,...

The military and political arenas are closely linked in Israel’s fight against terrorist and guerrilla organizations. Israel is a democratic country subject to legal and moral constraints and restraints, and therefore, when it initiates a military operation against such organizations, its justifications are important, as they will later affect its international legitimacy or lack thereof. This article discusses the Iron Dome system, which is designed to provide active protection for Israeli citizens. It attempts to answer...

As the only non-NATO littoral state in the Arctic, Russia’s policies have great relevance for the region’s security environment. A series of military deployments and announced upgrades to infrastructure and weapon systems since 2007 have led to speculations that Moscow seeks to remilitarize its Arctic sector in anticipation of a warmer climate in the region. Using strategy documents and policy pronouncements since 2008 as instruments of analysis, this paper considers Moscow’s security intentions in a climatically changing Arctic. The...

Despite UN peacekeeping forces’ extensive activity in several conflict areas around the world, its abilities and effectiveness are limited. Furthermore, there is a lack of agreement and clarity regarding its legal and political aspects. The Israeli-Arab conflict has been the primary testing grounds in terms of developing the notion of peacekeeping during the Cold War, and stationing forces along and beyond Israel’s borders has served as means of “preventive diplomacy.” The end of the Cold War provided impetus for a number of...

In recent years, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles has been on the rise. However, there is an evident change in constituent components. As the number of countries utilizing these vehicles continues to increase, the manufacturing process has been revolutionized, allowing many nations and commercial companies to manufacture and sell UAVs to the highest bidder. The changes in manufacturing processes have given rise to an expansion of their possible use, including terror. These changes require a reevaluation in order to face the...

The development and deployment of the Iron Dome system during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012 and Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, demonstrated impressive technological capabilities. In addition, it indicated the need for an increased professionalization among the personnel engaged in emergency management, and the creation of a structured professional identity transcending organizational affiliation. Government Decision 1661 transferred the powers previously held by Israel’s Ministry of Home Front Defense...

Global experience with oil and natural gas production indicates that international energy companies do not refrain from operating in areas of conflict and are not easily deterred by periodic terrorist attacks on their facilities. However, the case of the Nigerian Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) shows that even large corporations are liable to close their facilities when there is a direct attack on their foreign (non-local) employees. Israel can learn from the Nigerian experience how to cope with the...

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was founded in 1976, demanding the establishment of an independent state for the Tamil ethnic minority in northern and northeastern Sri Lanka. In May 2009, following over three decades of conflict, its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed and the group was dismantled. The LTTE was established long before other well-known terror groups emerged, and yet it received little attention in comparison. An analysis of the relations between Sri Lankan governments and the Tamil Tigers from the...

In the course of 2013, Iran became one of the key players in the international cyber warfare theater. This development is a result of both defensive and offensive cyber force buildup processes and a measured relaxation of restraints on the part of Iranian decision makers with respect to offensive activity in cyberspace. Indeed, the Iranian activity points to major qualitative advances in Iran’s technological and operational cyber capabilities. This article examines the activity and progress in Iran’s cyber defense system, and the...

This article examines the contribution made by peacekeeping operations on Israel’s borders to regional stability since Israel’s establishment, especially in the face of the challenge posed by armed non-state actors in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The article is divided into three parts. The first part presents the main changes in the operating principles of peacekeeping missions from the Cold War to the present. The second provides a concise overview of the rationale for peacekeeping operations on Israel’s borders....

The Harpaz Affair has revealed one of the worst crises in the history of the relations between the political and military echelons in Israel. Despite the great interest in the affair, one crucial aspect of the relations between then-Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and then-IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has been ignored: the battle between the two over the “general headquarters” section of the IDF Supreme Command orders, which sets forth the status of the Defense Minister vis-à-vis the IDF Chief of Staff and reflects who is head of...

The current Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) theory has been the focus of academics and military analysts, trying to define the role of technology in transforming military affairs during the past three decades. However, despite the vast literature on the subject, only a limited number of studies look into the implications of RMA on small states. The emphasis on great powers, as some scholars suggest, is a reflection of the fact that the broader strategic studies literature does not necessarily consider small states, as their...

The emergence of the cyber threat phenomenon is forcing organizations to change the way they think about security. One of these changes relates to organizations’ policy on sharing cyber information with outside parties. This means shifting away from the view of the organization as an isolated, compartmentalized entity towards a view of the organization as a sharing one. Sharing generates a complex, multifaceted challenge to technology, law, organizational culture and even politics. Establishing a system of sharing serves many...

Ethnic, political, and religious rifts make Yemen one of the most complex arenas in the Middle East, even more so following the eruption of the Arab Spring, which in November 2011 ended the 33-year regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The disintegration of the delicate political balance Saleh created has brought Yemen to the brink of an abyss with competing elites, ethnic revolts, separatists, external intervention and fundamentalist terrorism threatening to divide the country while hindering the new regime’s attempts to build a...

In Israel, there is a consensus on the value of all knowledge generated in the defense establishment and its contribution to the economy. But in the State Comptroller’s report of March 2014, the management of intellectual property (IP) at the Ministry of Defense was described as an ongoing fiasco, with the blame ascribed to both the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance. This essay seeks to contribute to the discourse on remedying the flaws and suggest some organizing principles in the management of IP, while considering...

The consensus in Israel is that Hizbollah was deterred as a result of the Second Lebanon War, that because of the damage sustained by the group and its supporters, it refrained from fighting against Israel, and that quiet that has reigned on the northern border was a result of the war. In fact, most of the arguments supposedly proving that Hizbollah was deterred are less clear-cut than they appear. The majority of Hizbollah’s actions, both before and after the war, can be explained by other factors—domestic Lebanese and...

This article will not offer a legal analysis or presume to take sides in the ongoing debate between the administration and its critics on legal positions regarding military and security issues. The basic assumption of this series of speeches asserted that such a discussion is unavoidable and even essential in any democratic country. The problem is that when it heats up, particularly in wartime, the debate is liable to frame the tension between security and values as an inevitable choice between them. Obama identified this...

The aim of this article is to present the role of cyber warfare technology in Israel’s security doctrine and to examine Israel’s preparations for dealing with the cyber threat by evaluating three necessary levels: (1) formulating a regular strategy for handling the threat posed by the development of cyber warfare technology; (2) allocating resources and budgets; and (3) effecting changes in the manner in which Israel builds its forces. An assessment of government publications will presumably demonstrate the importance of...

The classic defense methods employed throughout the world in recent decades are proving unsuccessful in halting modern malware attacks that exploit unknown (and therefore still unsolved) security breaches called “zero-day vulnerabilities.” This article proposes an up-to-date approach, based on an analysis of sensitive information that must be protected, for the purpose of identifying anomalous behavior. The article further proposes relying on the data to be protected as a source of knowledge for developing the defense...

Cyberspace is a phenomenon whose fundamental nature is to utilize an electromagnetic field for human purposes by means of technology. This article argues that such technology is a type of weapon. A common dictionary definition of “weapon” is “any instrument used in combat” or “any means employed to get the better of another.” A “cyber weapon,” therefore, is one that strikes with the purpose of vanquishing another by attacking systems connected to cyberspace. Cyber weapons can be used as...

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 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....

The debate over the applicability or non-applicability of international law to cyberwar and the need for a cyber-specific international treaty might be irrelevant. Both camps, pro and con, argue about the need for cyberwar to have the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) or some new international legislation properly cover the cyber domain. Both camps, however, misread how the structure of the cyber domain precludes strategically “piggybacking” on conventional norms of war. International laws on conventional war are effective...

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...

This article deals with South Korea’s security policy and its strategic relations with the United States. It analyzes Seoul’s policy vis-à-vis wartime command over the years, particularly the inluences of complex internal and external elements. The article describes how and why the transfer of command in wartime was delayed for many years, and addresses the inluences of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, the military forces, the South Korean media, and North Korea in the process.

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...

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...

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...

The Revolutionary Guards are significantly involved in the international drug trade, both directly and through proxies. This involvement provides the organization with access to sources of financing that bypass international sanctions, as well as to sophisticated operational platforms that support its subversive efforts aimed at the West. For Iran’s enemies, and especially to Israel, the link between a global, sophisticated, and determined organization as the Revolutionary Guards and the world of organized crime is a phenomenon that...

Though cyberspace is a domain of strategic importance, cyber weapons have not yet been associated with publicly well-enunciated doctrines of use comparable to that of the nuclear age. Taking two very different approaches from the strategic literature—Jervis’ security dilemma and Zagare & Kilgoure’s perfect deterrence model—cyber weapons are demonstrated in both cases to induce a higher level of international instability. In particular, instability is favored by the attribution issue and the lack of clear thresholds. The outline...

In “On Nuclear War: Deterrence, Escalation, and Control” (Military and Strategic Affairs, December 2012), Professor Stephen Cimbala discusses various reasons for the failure of nuclear deterrence and expresses doubts about deterrence for several reasons. These include decisions (by the target of deterrence) that are not based on cost-benefit analysis; irrationality; and misunderstandings.

This article discusses the threat of terrorism in cyberspace and examines the truth of the perceptions of this threat that have formed in recent years. It examines the capabilities that a non-state actor can achieve and whether these can constitute a real threat to the national security of states. For an analysis of the main threats facing a state from a multi-year perspective and in light of anticipated changes in a state’s strategic balance, the factors that threaten the state are presented and the roots of the threat are...

In recent years, intelligence has undergone profound changes, both in relationships within the intelligence system and in relations between it and the political and military environment that it serves. These changes are also reflected in the practice of intelligence today and in the new concepts appearing in the discourse on intelligence, which are displacingthe traditional approaches, now outdated. The developments in intelligenceare the necessary result of the profound changes taking place in the human situation and in the nature...

This paper critically examines the ongoing religious terrorism of Boko Haram  in northern Nigeria, focusing on why the group exists and its growing connection to the global jihad. It evaluates the coercive and conciliatory responses of the Nigerian government to Boko Haram, with particular reference to the Joint Military Task Force. Problematizing a security-only, killing approach to dealing with religious terrorism, it argues that countries fighting terror abroad should learn from the Nigerian experience of fighting Boko Haram that...

Preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons contravenes a particular understanding of containment. However, a renewed and sophisticated containment policy understood as mastering and constraining great wars and mass violence, including combating the spread of WMD and the escalation of violent conflicts, should be the overarching political aim of the international community. The strategy of containment was successfully applied against the USSR and eventually led to the demise of that superpower. The question then arises how to...

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 emergence of new security threats to the international community has led to a fundamental reevaluation of the contemporary international legal order. The events of September 11, 2001 in particular heralded thebeginning of an age of terror, characterized by the fear that terrorist groups could acquire and use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against their targets. The ensuing war against transnational terrorism and proliferation of WMD is a new type of warfare, posing unique threats and unparalleled security challenges to the...

This essay confronts two main problems in cyber defense: the attribution issue (who is attacking?) and the threshold issue (is it worth all-out war?). Starting with a war-game scenario, an analytical framework based on the Tallinn Manual is suggested to delineate cases for wars and areas of crises. The prosecution of cyber crises is then proposed through two “reduction in asymmetrical information” strategies. The threshold issue can be alleviated with a better understanding of observable and simulated effects on the defending...

Current assessments are that fighting in densely populated areas will be one of the main types of combat the IDF will face in the foreseeable future. This essay will focus on three points: one, change in threats facing the State of Israel; two, the main characteristics of the military response necessitated by the change in the threat; and three, some components of the necessary method of action in such confrontations.

Since the middle of the twentieth century there has been a process of dramatic change in the history of warfare. The change in the landscape, i.e., natural landscapes turning into urban areas, requires a change in the nature of war, both on the part of the defender and on the part of the attacker.

It behooves us to investigate asymmetry. Asymmetry between entities is measured not only in terms of force but also exists in every aspect in which there is a difference in the nature of the conflicting sides, in their goals, power, methods of operation, and especially the rules of the game by which they play.

In Israeli research there are two types of discourse regarding how to assess and judge warfare in densely populated areas: the normative discourse and the operative discourse. Conspicuously absent is the interactive discourse with the non-state enemy, i.e., the willingness to look at oneself through the eyes of the enemy in the course of the fighting. This discourse exists among non-state organizations such as Hizbollah and Hamas.

This essay will deal with the challenges to the laws of warfare posed by fighting in urban zones, the consequent changes to these laws, and the problems these changes have aroused and responses to them.

What legal rules apply to armed confrontations against non-state elements in areas populated by civilians? What rules apply when the enemy does not honor the basic laws of warfare – does not distinguish itself from the local population, and even uses it for shelter and as a base of operations? This essay, which presents my position on the issue, refers to such confrontations as “asymmetrical conflicts.”

Lawfare is closely linked to the challenges facing the regular armies of law-abiding nations engaged in asymmetrical confrontations in densely populated civilian urban areas. Therefore, as part of its preparations for the challenges it may have to face in the future, particularly in this type of fighting, the IDF must give the proper weight to the legal front that is likely to develop as an integral part of the same confrontation.

This essay attempts to present operational perspectives on conducting warfare in densely populated areas. It also distinguishes between three types of combat within this general category, with the goal of shedding light on this complex type of warfare.

It is an understatement to say that armed conflicts fought in densely populated areas can and do cause tremendous human suffering. Civilians in particular have historically paid a high price in the form of death, injuries, and permanent disabilities. They have also paid indirectly through the effects of widespread damage to their homes, the impact on their livelihoods, and the destruction of the infrastructure that supplies the necessities of life. With modern conflicts increasingly fought in urban areas, civilians are increasingly...

Although at first sight many issues related to targeting densely populated areas seem similar, regardless of the type of conflict and the area where hostilities take place, it should be recalled that what works in the framework of one operation does not necessarily work in another operational context. This can be illustrated by two contemporary conflicts in which air assets play or played a major role: Afghanistan and Libya. Air operations conducted in the framework of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are similar but...

If indeed the world is engaged in a global war on terrorism, what is the optimal way to defend against it? Should the response be focused on defensive aspects or should offensive ones augment defensive measures? Who are the enemies and where is the battle zone? This essay examines these questions from an historical perspective in order to draw conclusions and attempt to formulate some insights about the right strategy and most effective tactics involving technology as a critical component in the response to this type of warfare.

Over the past several years China has been developing operational capabilities in the field of cyberspace warfare. A cyber attack may be defined as the unauthorized penetration of computer and communications systems belonging to individuals or organizations for the purpose of espionage and information theft, in order thereby to damage or disrupt the functioning of these systems or to damage other systems dependent on them, even to a point of causing actual physical damage. Despite denials by the Chinese government, researchers posit...

Israel’s strategic environment of mid 2012 differs significantly from that of a few years ago. In the current environment, the military force application that Israel is liable to need differs in purpose, constraints, and the accompanying military-political interface from the force application of the past. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the particular characteristics of force application in this contemporary environment.

This article will examine various aspects of maritime enforcement and prevention methods in the context of Iran, first and foremost a naval blockade, for the purpose of stepping up pressure to thwart proliferation of non-conventional weapons. In addition, it will discuss the ramifications of these enforcement and prevention measures and the relevant alternatives available to the international community.

Cyber threats pose a real and growing problem, and to date, United States efforts to counter them have lagged. While the ability to defend against an attack or intrusion must be maintained, the US, like any country, would be well served by deterring its adversaries from acting in the first place – at least when it comes to the most serious of actions, namely cyber warfare. Clearly not all hostile behavior can be deterred, but it is important to identify priorities in this regard and determine how best to address those that lead the...

During the Cold War, and especially in the 1980s, there were some serious efforts in the academic and policy communities to study how a nuclear war could end.This study will attempt neither to construct particular scenarios of war termination nor to examine important topics such as bargaining strategies or monitoring and verification of nuclear cease fires. The focus here is broader, namely, the political-military contexts for the management of nuclear crises and post-crisis force operations, including escalation control and war...

Operation Change of Direction, the code name given to Israel’s war against Hizbollah in Lebanon in 2006 by the Operations Directorate of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was the most inconclusive performance by far in the IDF’s many trials by fire since 1948, in that it represented the first time that a major regional confrontation ended without a clear cut victory on Israel’s part. The campaign’s uneven course and outcome resulted from a more overarching deficiency in strategy choice, whose most flawed...

Revelations about Stuxnet and Flame have provoked a chorus of dire warnings on the dangers of cyber warfare and the need for action. Yet the most troubling question to emerge from these revelations is why, if cyber warfare is such a critical issue, are so many people so badly informed about it? Suggestions that Stuxnet or Flame have increased risk are based on a faulty understanding of how much risk already exists in cyberspace, the already high frequency of state-sponsored malicious cyber action, and the rapid growth in many...

This article examines the current situation regarding various elements of Iran’s cyberspace development process. The first section analyzes the country’s cyberspace strategy, while the second section describes the organizational and operational response to the formulated strategy. This comprises three components: infrastructures for training and developing technological manpower for work in cyberspace; technological developments that have already been introduced; and the overall processes of cyberspace force construction....

This article reviews India’s gradual rise to the status of international power and its growing interest in the “expanded neighborhood,” with a focus on the western section of that “neighborhood.” This comprises, first and foremost, the maritime region west of India through the Strait of Hormuz in the north and the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa in the south, and also includes the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the East African coast. The terms “power projection,” “sea power,” and...

The implications of cyberspace crime for national security derive from the way technology is used by hostile elements. This article proposes a policy directed examination of the meaning of cyberspace crime and its impact on national security. Currently, cybercrime is hardly significant beyond the realms of IT risk management and law enforcement. However, this article identifies two separate conditions where cybercrime could become a substantial threat to national security.

Israel’s military engagement with Hizbollah in the summer of 2006 has been called by many different names and monikers, including, of course, the Second Lebanon War, which was adopted by Israel as the official name of the war. Some commentators on Arab television stations called it the sixth Arab-Israeli round. In truth, however, most of the Arab world, at least its leaders and important segments of its ruling elites, supported Israel, and more precisely, stood aside with the expectation, which ultimately was not met, that...

Over a decade has passed since the eruption of the second intifada, a grueling period for Israel with the long, sustained, and intensive series of terrorist attacks launched by terrorist organizations against civilians and soldiers of the State of Israel. Most difficult were the suicide attacks, generally carried out in urban centers and causing large numbers of casualties – dead and wounded – among the civilian population. Predictably, therefore, the terrorism phenomenon became a dominant issue on Israel’s national and popular...

Although the State of Israel has always been threatened from the sea, preparing for the threat was not an important priority for the state’s leaders, as reflected by the resources that were allocated to the navy. However, once long range missiles appeared in the naval arena (in the 1960s), it became clear that the navy’s vessels and the air force’s planes were not capable of coping with this challenge.

The Mediterranean Sea, Israel’s only open border, also borders Israel’s enemies to the north and the Gaza Strip to the south, thereby linking it to enemy states. Thus, Israel’s control of this naval arena would enable it to project military strength from the sea, and afford it the capability to embark on landing operations of various types. “The shores of the State of Israel, the naval interface with each of our enemies, require us to expand our naval strength to the point of being able to land forces from the...

In the last decade, Israel unilaterally withdrew from two areas: the security zone in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Israel had previously withdrawn unilaterally from occupied territories without political agreements, but these two withdrawals were more significant and traumatic, both socially and politically, than any prior withdrawal. The time that has passed since these unilateral withdrawals affords us some historical perspective and allows us to compare them in terms of their outcomes and the processes they generated, both...

Developments in computers have made possible far reaching changes in all areas of life, and the rapid progress in computing, communications, and software has led to a dramatic reduction in the cost of producing, processing, and disseminating information. The scientific-technological developments of recent decades gave rise to “the information revolution,” which involves the processing and dissemination of information. Information technologies continue to develop at an accelerated pace, and a new era has arisen in the...

The impact of computer and communications systems in recent decades has not bypassed the national security of states in general, and the State of Israel in particular. Most systems in developed societies rely on computer and information infrastructures, and this growing dependence on information and communication technologies means that a blow to computers and information flow processes is liable to disrupt, paralyze, and sometimes even cause substantive physical damage to essential systems. Computer-based capabilities and their...

This essay analyzes the main changes that have occurred in the strategic arena, especially the rising influence of the delegitimization campaign on the deployment of military force. The essay claims that in light of these changes the IDF must formulate a comprehensive strategy to coordinate force buildup and force deployment, and thereby allow an effective confrontation with the complex challenges facing the nation.

IDF General Staff planning processes relate to two primary areas: force buildup and force deployment. The fundamentals of military doctrine of any army, and particularly the IDF, necessitate full synchronization between the two, and the element that underlies all planning processes is what is needed for force deployment. Upon the establishment of the IDF, these processes were assigned to a single framework: the General Staff Branch. However, more than sixty years later, planning in the General Staff today has been decentralized among...

This essay surveys Pakistan’s national interests and the rationale underlying its posture vis-à-vis the United States, especially regarding cooperation in the war on terrorism. It also examines the regional struggles in which Pakistan is involved, specifically, its bitter conflict with India and its relations with China. Despite the recent US criticism of Pakistani conduct and deteriorating bilateral relations, a comprehensive examination of the geostrategic regional situation and the interests of both the United States and...

This essay analyzes the factors behind Afghanistan’s instability and argues that understanding them can explain the political and military difficulty in destroying irregular forces that share a strong ideology and operate in a given geographical arena. The essay claims that understanding the area politically, socially, and demographically allows for the formulation of a strategy and varied modi operandi for defeating the guerrilla forces.

The article begins by defining the subject of critical infrastructures, and discusses the origins, uniqueness, and innovativeness of the threat to them. It then discusses levels of coping with the threat, using conceptual parallels to the world of military content. The existing Israeli response will be reviewed briefly, with an emphasis on the central challenges the cyber threat poses to public policy. Finally, directions for future research and action will be presented.

Strategic ambiguity has an honored place in the mores of statecraft. The studied unwillingness of states to say what they have done (or would do) coupled with the lack of proof that they have done it (or would do it) liberates other states. They can argue that something was done, but if their purposes so dictate, they can pretend that it was not done. The degree of doubt can vary: from thorough (no one is sure what has happened or would happen) to nominal (no one is fooled). In either case, however, those who did it have provided a...

This article aims to provide a balanced picture of the phenomenon of cyberwar. It will show how and why the meaning of “cyberwar” has evolved from the narrow conception referring exclusively to military interaction to its broad meaning, which has become detached from “war” and encompasses almost every activity linked to the aggressive use of computers. In particular, it will distinguish between different forms of cyber conflict in order to lay the ground for a levelheaded threat assessment. It further shows...

This article relies illuminates the characteristics of the information age and clarifies the issues that emerge when technological development interfaces with national security. It analyzes the current characteristics of cyberspace, and discusses the implications for national security questions. It then reviews the field known as information warfare and focuses on the totally new phenomenon of computer warfare in cyberspace. The article then reviews cyber weapons and methods of warfare, discusses defense, attack, and deterrence, and...

This essay focuses on an analysis of the factors that are likely to make terrorist organizations use cyber tools to perpetrate attacks on critical infrastructures of sovereign institutions and symbols, commercial and industrial infrastructures and systems, and public civilian targets. In addition, it examines the question of whether the threat is actual and imminent, or whether it is a far-fetched possibility that surfaces from time to time in the general discourse on the subject.

The possibility of successful deterrence against cyber attacks is limited with regard to each of the dimensions required for its success: the existence of capability (weapons), the credibility of the threat, and the ability to convey the threatening message to the potential challenger. Nonetheless, there are several elements to consider that under certain circumstances are likely to serve as the basis for successful deterrence even in the realm of cyberspace. This essay surveys the literature and proposes directions for continued...

The IDF reserves, formerly the backbone of the military’s force, is now at a crossroads, and it appears that even the IDF command and the political echelon are not sure how to reshape it. This essay argues that a combination of political and economic costs involved in operating the reserves is accelerating the decline of this force, and is part of the general move towards the transformation of the IDF from conscript to professional army.

This article presents several facts and conclusions stemming from the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. It also discusses two other events that occurred after the withdrawal: the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and a relatively small yet important event, the departure of Syrian forces from Lebanon in 2005. All these events are connected to one another.

In a democratic state the question of when it is appropriate to embark on a war is within the purview of the government, because it is the body responsible for any activity touching on relations between states and other political entities. This question has ramifications for defense of the state, its citizens, and its soldiers. Similarly, the question of what is appropriate action after the war, when working towards peace, is within the government’s purview because any step towards a settlement between the parties is of political...

The purpose of this conference is to try to understand the changes in the threat against the State of Israel that have taken place in recent years, and to examine the components of the optimal response to the threat. Today’s seminar is organized within the framework of the INSS Military and Strategic Affairs Program, which aims to enhance the public discourse on subjects relevant to this discipline through conferences and the Military and Strategic Affairs journal.

This essay focuses primarily on the threats against the State of Israel and touches little on the responses to these threats. Over the last sixty years, the threats Israel has been forced to tackle have assumed different emphases, but the fundamental principle for understanding them has not changed, namely: the world around us, the Arab world, most of the Muslim world – not necessarily “most” in the numerical-statistical terms, but in terms of those determining the outlook of that world – does not consent to the existence of an...

This essay analyzes the current risks to Israel’s interests in Israel and abroad (including Jewish interests abroad) from al-Qaeda and its affiliates. To illustrate the risks, it is useful to review the ideology of these groups and show how it translates into practical expression through a survey of the groups’ activities in different arenas around the world.

In light of talk about the northern sector heating up and the possibility of a deterioration into war, the question of the change in the threat facing Israel – from the longstanding situation in which the state’s reference scenario was a surprise attack for the purpose of conquering either limited or more extended territory to the new reality that includes extensive rocket and missile fire at Israeli population centers together with the use of terrorism and guerilla tactics – again rises to the surface.

The central questions regarding military force for a democratic nation state are: can war be expected, does military force deter a war, and should a war erupt, can the state endure it and emerge victorious. Force buildup derives from the operational response to the threat. The problem that states and militaries face today is that there is no generic formula for force application and force buildup relevant to a threat that combines large scale – even global – terrorism and conventional capabilities, all under the threat of a nuclear...

In a democratic state the question of when it is appropriate to embark on a war is within the purview of the government, because it is the body responsible for any activity touching on relations between states and other political entities. This question has ramifications for defense of the state, its citizens, and its soldiers. Similarly, the question of what is appropriate action after the war, when working towards peace, is within the government’s purview because any step towards a settlement between the parties is of political...

This essay suggests responses that the State of Israel – not necessarily the IDF – should provide to five types of problems presented elsewhere in this volume: (a) the problem of Lebanon; (b) the high trajectory threat, which although it relates to Lebanon is a more general threat, as also appears from the Gaza Strip, Syria, and Iran, and harbors great damage potential that may not have been presented in its full the preceding discussions; (c) what is the right way of prosecuting a war with Syria; (d) coping with the Iranian nuclear...

This essay discusses the response to the threat at the strategic level and to some extent also the operative level, but does not address the response at the technical or tactical level. Likewise at the tactical level, one must always ask what requires the most attention.

The Czech philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) claimed that as we are thinking creatures amassing life experiences, assisted by language and descriptive capabilities and endowed with the ability to judge, draw conclusions, and make decisions, and as we are constantly in search of truths, from time to time there occur conceptual developments in our understanding of reality, followed by linguistic developments. Husserl, who preceded the era in which post-modernism has assumed intellectual hegemony, also claimed that “to live...

Inside the crowded geo-strategic box that is Israel’s domain, the western sector is the only open border and is thus both the Achilles’ heel of Israel enemies and a great opportunity for the IDF. At the same time, technological improvements on the enemy’s side and its growing arsenal of a wide range of rockets and missiles are a severe threat to Israel in every land battle. In the sea domain the navy enjoys many advantages: it is a constant presence in the arena, it is difficult to track, its activity is possible in...

Among military thinkers it is axiomatic that the purpose of utilizing military force is to realize a political end. Clausewitz wrote that the goal of war is to impose one’s political will on the enemy, and for Liddell Hart the goal is “a better state of peace.” Indeed, according to American military doctrine the finish line of a military campaign is reached when the president no longer needs military tools in order to realize national goals. From the national-strategic end state defined by the president, the...

The Middle East has recently operated under the not implausible fear that a regional war is about to break out. Therefore, Israel is closely following any sign of growing closeness among the members of the radical axis, a relationship that peaked with the Damascus summit in February 2010 and the transfer of – or at least what seemed like the intention to transfer – “balance destabilizing” weapons to Hizbollah. It is therefore important to understand the extent to which the axis – Iran, Syria, Hizbollah, and Palestinian...

While al-Qaeda and Hamas have become household terms, far less familiar is the man behind the idea of al-Qaeda, the Palestinian sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, who also did much to support the establishment and entrenchment of Hamas. This essay traces the links between Azzam and these two radical Islamic organizations and outlines his major influence on central components of their agendas – jihad (holy war) and istishhad (martyrdom).

Nine years after the 9/11 attacks, there is a growing sense among academic, government, and think tank counterterrorism analysts that al-Qaeda is losing the battle against its enemies, led by the West in general and the United States in particular. Indeed, there are ample signs that al-Qaeda is in trouble, including its loss of important operational leaders; defeat or near defeat of various al-Qaeda franchises outside the Afghan-Pakistani headquarters; and a slew of ideological challenges leveled against the group by some of its...

Suicide bombings are not a new phenomenon in the annals of contemporary terrorism. Hizbollah in Lebanon was the first to make modern use of this weapon; it was later adopted by other organizations around the world. What characterizes modern suicide terrorism and sets it apart from suicide attacks carried out from the first century until the middle of the 20th is that it is perpetrated by means of explosives carried on the suicide attacker’s body or on some type of mobile platform driven by the suicide attacker into his target,...

From mid 2005 suicide terrorism from Judea and Samaria stopped being a significant component of the IDF’s war on Palestinian terrorism, thus marking the end of a long, demanding process that began with the Israeli government’s decision to launch Operation Defensive Shield and have the IDF operate in Palestinian cities. It is difficult to determine precisely when the process concluded, but around the middle of 2005 the number of suicide attacks from Judea and Samaria dropped to a very low level, and since then this general...

On December 24, 2008, the Israeli cabinet led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert authorized the IDF plan to attack the Gaza Strip and to change the security reality in the south of Israel in order to improve the lives of the local population. Three days later, the army embarked on Operation Cast Lead. The operation began with an air strike on Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip. In two waves of attack involving more than 80 aircraft, the IDF destroyed rocket depots, outposts, training bases, and government centers. This was the start...

Since its establishment, Israel’s security policymakers believed the IDF must be prepared to face every possible threat scenario presented by the Arab states, including a war involving all Arab countries.This principle guided Israel’s position on various security issues. The IDF’s performance in the Sinai Campaign, the Six Day War, and to a large extent the Yom Kippur War seems to have proved the validity of the principle. In each of these cases, the Israeli army emerged with the upper hand, and there was little...

This essay seeks to view Operation Cast Lead as a piece in a developing sequence, beginning with the second intifada and continuing through the Second Lebanon War, in terms of two major components: the military response to the threat and the public understanding of the effectiveness of the military response. There is a close symbiotic relationship between the two components because Israel’s response to the threat involves military combat elements alongside civilian stamina and defense capabilities. The two components are...

In the past two and a half years, Israel has waged two military campaigns – against Hizbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in Gaza – and in both, the campaigns were labeled in the public discourse in Israel and abroad as wars against terrorist organizations. The use of this term to describe the enemies Israel fought and the characteristics of these battles is not only imprecise and misleading but also shrouds the character of the enemy and the nature of the confrontation in a haze, minimizes their complexity, and creates unrealistic...

At the end of the Second Lebanon War, many claimed that the State of Israel had not succeeded in strengthening Israel’s deterrence vis-à-vis Hizbollah. An examination of the organization’s response to Operation Cast Lead and a comparison with its response to Operation Defensive Shield demonstrate that Israel’s actions in the Second Lebanon War did in fact result in considerably stronger Israeli deterrence.

Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in the Gaza Strip filled both the IDF and the Israeli public with a sense of success, and justifiably so – at least militarily speaking. In the course of the fighting, Israel managed to greatly reduce the rocket fire at the Israeli home front, with relatively little loss of life and property; the air force managed to render severe blows to the Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and eliminate senior operatives in the military and political wing of the organization; and the ground forces...

From early November to December 27, 2008, when Operation Cast Lead got under way, 365 rockets and 177 mortar bombs were fired at Israel; on December 20, 2008 alone, 15 rockets and 25 mortar bombs were fired. The attack on civilian life and the threat against the residential centers near the Gaza Strip and within the rocket range moved the government of Israel and the IDF to embark on Operation Cast Lead to render a blow to Hamas, responsible for the policy of violence towards Israel. The intention was to damage the...

Hizbollah and Hamas are guerilla and terrorist organizations that in less than 20 years have developed into quasi-governmental entities. They have done so in a relatively smaller area than is usually the case in guerilla warfare, and in the case of the Gaza Strip, primarily in urban areas suited to this type of fighting. Militarily, Hizbollah is a big brother of Hamas: Hizbollah is more experienced, knowledgeable, and selfassured. Nonetheless, Hizbollah is learning from Hamas’ conduct during Operation Cast Lead and is...

Although the writing was on the wall for several years prior, it appearsthat time will show that the first day of the Second Lebanon War markeda watershed. The war presented the public in Israel with a clear picture ofa threat that has changed radically. Before the war, the IDF had focusedon combating Palestinian terrorism and on attempting to construct anupdated understanding of warfare against the classical military threat;the war, however, revealed the full force of the threat coming from hightrajectory fire.

The following article touches on seven points that are conclusions of sorts from three central military episodes of recent years: Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank in April 2002, the Second Lebanon War, and Operation Cast Lead. A comparison of these events allows us to formulate general conclusions relevant to similar events in the future. Six of the issues refer primarily to the past and the present, but have ramifications for the future. The seventh is an attempt to assess what would happen should a Third Lebanon War...

It is very difficult to analyze and understand the Second Lebanon War without understanding how the IDF entered it. By this I am not referring to the moment the decision was made to attack on July 12, 2006, rather to the processes that occurred in the years leading up to the war. In this context, it is necessary to try to understand the fields where the military was focusing its endeavors, the topics with which the army was dealing, and the outlook of the IDF’s leadership at that time. It is necessary to focus on two central,...

Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry’s political-security branch, testified before the Winograd Commission about grim words that do not describe any disaster in the military arena, rather the mindset and sense in Israel regarding the adoption of UN Security Resolution 1701. It seems that this testimony reflects to a large extent the lack of preparedness and thought characteristic of the political dimension – as well as the military level – in everything connected with the Second Lebanon War.

At the height of the Lebanese parliamentary elections campaign, Hassan Nasrallah addressed a conference in the Beqaa Valley. In an impassioned speech, he sought to enlist support for Hizbollah’s candidates by referring to the Israeli enemy.

In the three years since the Second Lebanon War there has been absolute calm on the northern border, the likes of which no one can remember since the 1970s. This reality was purchased with the lives of civilians and soldiers who fell in battle, with the pain of the injured, both soldiers and civilians, and with the cost of those whose lives were destroyed and who bear the scars and wounds of that war to this day. My heart goes out to them.

Wars are difficult and traumatic, and as such, their impact goes well beyond their immediate time frame and the people directly involved. In this sense, the Second Lebanon War is not unusual. In hindsight, and in light of the thoughtful analyses presented at this conference, it seems that the most prominent phenomenon about the Second Lebanon War is the fact that it was a watershed – a pivotal moment in which different processes ceased, accelerated, or significantly changed direction. This is true at the personal level regarding the...

On August 12, 2006, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1701, paving the way for the end of 34 days of warfare between Israel and Hizbollah, a campaign later named the Second Lebanon War. Apart from the immediate need to establish a ceasefire, the Security Council hoped to change the security reality in southern Lebanon while neutralizing the elements that were responsible for the escalation, and prevent the repetition of another round of fighting between the sides. Accordingly, certain security arrangements were put in place,...

Every state defines its basic self interests and what in its mind constitutes existential threats. On the basis of these definitions, the state formulates the relevant responses, whether military, diplomatic, economic, or other, to events and developments. For years, the Israeli military response relied on three basic principles: deterrence, warning, and decision. The three principles implied that Israel must deter the Arab states from starting wars. Should deterrence fail, then Israel’s intelligence must supply a timely...

Before embarking on Operation Cast Lead, the IDF and the defense establishment held many discussions about the need for military action in the Gaza Strip and the strategic objective of such an action in the event it would in fact occur. These discussions were held in light of the sharply worded recommendations of the Winograd Commission.

This essay analyzes the main changes that have occurred in the strategic arena, especially the rising influence of the delegitimization campaign on the deployment of military force. The essay claims that in light of these changes the IDF must formulate a comprehensive strategy to coordinate force buildup and force deployment, and thereby allow an effective confrontation with the complex challenges facing the nation.

In recent years the phenomenon of war has been commonly divided into symmetrical warfare and asymmetrical warfare. Notwithstanding new semantics, however, there is nothing new about this division, which represents the two principal interrelated components of war and therefore demands ongoing professional study. Confrontations between countries are liable to develop into symmetrical conventional wars, and at the same time or in their wake, a confrontation with asymmetrical properties can ensue. The transition from fighting a...

For most of its sixty years, the State of Israel has faced an ongoing confrontation generated by guerilla/terrorist movements. After World War II, it became customary to call this phenomenon a war of revolution or insurgency, connoting confrontation launched by politicalrevolutionary movements whose goal is to attain governance through violent means and the politicization of the local population. This is not guerilla or terrorist warfare in the classical sense, rather a war that in the beginning uses guerilla tactics (rural or urban)...