Publications

This volume contains seven articles based on lectures that were delivered during a research workshop conducted in 2013 and 2014 on civil-military relations held at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), in cooperation with the Association of Army-Society Researchers in Israel.Like workshops held in previous years, this workshop was attended by researchers exploring subjects related to society and the military in Israel.

All the presentations made during the workshop were followed by in-depth discussions among the participants. The discussions facilitated a broader understanding of the issues raised and helped authors develop their ideas on their topics of research. The essays contained in this volume are the products of this process.

The first article in this publication, “The Fundamental Concept of Human Resources in the Structure of the IDF,” by former head of the IDF Planning Directorate Giora Eiland, analyzes the sources and implications of the fundamental concept of IDF force structure from the perspective of a systemic planner. In this article, Eiland argues that the IDF’s approach – based on universal service, reserve duty, and an optimal ratio between regular service and reserve service – is the correct model, and that any alternative model would involve higher costs. In his view, the existing model is based not only on a fundamental moral approach but also on an analysis of the operational effectiveness that can be achieved with a given budget. In a supplementary argument to this fundamental assessment, Eiland maintains that the benefit of ultra-Orthodox conscription can be expected to be relatively low and that imposing civil service on all those who are not conscripted into the IDF would not be an effective approach.

In the second article, “Compulsory Conscription or Mobilization Using Market Mechanisms: Economic Aspects,” Yaakov Lifshitz posits that insufficient attention is paid to economic dimensions in the discussion regarding general conscription into the IDF. In his view, a stringent cost-benefit analysis reveals that the compulsory military service is more expensive, and that a value-focused assessment indicates that voluntary army service provides more in return. In other words, the cost-benefit ratio of compulsory service is higher than that of voluntary service, which offers a better cost-benefit ratio. This difference reflects a disadvantage of the compulsory service and raises questions such as whether the compulsory service justifies its high cost, and whether it is truly possible to establish an effective volunteer-based army with a smaller pool of soldiers.

In the third article, “‘The People’s Army,’ Put to the Test,” Dov Tamari argues that as long as the Israeli army remains a “people’s army,” the IDF is a significant social entity. In this capacity, until the Six Day War it was considered to be the most successful organization in Israel, primarily because by means of compulsory conscription, it facilitated integration into Israeli society. The Six Day War was followed by a change in the IDF’s social and political positioning, as since then not all wars in which the IDF participated were major successes, and the IDF subsequently became involved in deepseated social disputes in Israel. One example is the political debate concerning the conscription and status of ultra-Orthodox and religious Jews in the IDF. Still, Tamari believes that today the IDF continues to function as a social organization no less than as a fighting military organization. He also contends that as long as it can effectively serve as a force that contributes more to Israeli society than it receives, the IDF has the ability to survive as an accepted and desired entity within Israeli society. In his view, the IDF should not be thinking in terms of “what the IDF needs,” but rather, “what the IDF, as a people’s army, can contribute to Israeli society.” According to his analysis, the army must seek out meaningful social roles for itself, as failing to do so will endanger the people’s army.

The fourth article, “Motivation Levels for IDF Enlistment over the Years,” by Reuven Gal, deals with the historical development of the motivation for service in the IDF. The focus of the discussion is Gal’s distinction between the motivation for combat service and the motivation for conscription. The article identifies four types of motivating factors: a) the motivation of survival, which characterizes individuals in societies facing an existential threat; b) ideological motivation, which is influenced by national identity, the struggle over values, convictions regarding the justness of a specific path, and the desire to fight for that path; c) normative motivations, based on the principles that are generally accepted in society; and d) individualistic motivations, stemming from the inductees’ desire for self-fulfillment. Gal examines these issues as reflected in the history of the State of Israel prior to and since its establishment, and asserts that during each period most Israelis have been characterized by different motivations. According to Gal, the motivating factors are currently mixed and based primarily on individualistic factors, in addition to the ideological factors motivating some social sectors, such as the Jewish religious circles. Gal believes that this controversial situation carries with it the potential for a collision of values, which is a phenomenon better suited for a volunteer army – first, in which one soldier enlists to enjoy himself, second, to serve his homeland, and third to earn a salary – but is not suitable for the traditional conscription model of a people’s army.

The fifth article, “Different Reflections of the Motivation to Serve in the IDF,” by Roni Tiargan, explores the motivation for conscription in the compulsory army and identifies an apparent gap in the answer to the frequently asked question of whether we are witnessing an increase or a decrease in the motivation to serve in the IDF. Whereas in many cases, as frequently reflected in the media, reference is made to a drop in the motivation to enlist in the IDF, surveys conducted by the IDF’s Behavioral Sciences Department and other studies have found prolonged stability and perhaps even an increase in the motivation to enlist. Tiargan’s article explains this gap using fundamental elements of the points of departure of the different analyses, such as the definition of the population of candidates for security service, the type of motivation under examination, the constitutional changes, the changes in IDF policy, and other such factors. For example, when we consider the overall young population of Israel, the number of new inductees has indeed declined over time, due primarily to the existence of large and ever expanding groups that offer no real conscription potential. On the other hand, when we consider only candidates for security service, as defined by Israeli law and IDF regulations and norms, a different picture emerges.

The sixth article, written by Pnina Sharvit Baruch and titled “What is the Appropriate Model for Female Service in the IDF?” argues that the IDF perceives female conscription as marginal and classifies it as “sectoral,” and therefore it is of interest primarily to the women who enlist or are called up for conscription. Sharvit Baruch maintains that the service of women in the IDF is of great importance for the organization itself vis-à-vis its values and the notion of the IDF as a liberal and egalitarian army. Broad non-integration of women into the ranks of the IDF constitutes a missed opportunity with regard to a significant potential for the engagement of high quality personnel in the military and has a detrimental impact on the women serving in the IDF, as well as on the individual development of female soldiers following their discharge.

In the seventh and final article, “The IDF and the Ultra-Orthodox: Economic Aspects of Conscription,” Olena Bagno-Moldavsky addresses the IDF conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews and considers the economic impact of military service on the future of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox men who serve in the military. Her conclusion is that ultra-Orthodox conscription has only a marginal economic impact on this group, despite its potential to forge close relations between different groups within the Israeli population, due in part to the legitimacy that is likely to be enjoyed by ultra-Orthodox Jews who serve in the army (this is comparable to the processes experienced by the national-religious sector in past years). According to Bagno-Moldavsky, even if it does not serve to improve their economic situation, this sharing of the burden may strengthen the political status of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel.

The articles compiled in this volume illuminate several major complexities regarding the appropriate model for service in the IDF at the present time. The IDF’s interest in maintaining the current model is clear and well known. It is based to a large extent on the fact that it enables the army to choose the practical format it finds most convenient, providing the military with substantial freedom to choose whom to enlist, where, and for how long. In so doing, it enables the IDF to engineer the most effective combination of compulsory army forces and reserve army forces. This issue, however, was not the focus of any of the articles in this volume.

Nonetheless, we believe that even maintaining the current model of IDF conscription obliges us to engage in critical assessment and, to a certain degree, to make changes. In this spirit, the articles presented here offer a long list of recommendations aimed at improving the return enjoyed by the IDF itself, as well as by Israeli society, the Israeli state (as reflected, for example, in reaping the maximum benefit from the conscription and service of women), and individual men and women. An open and public discussion of these recommendations can help improve the quality of the IDF, both in terms of carrying out its traditional op

erational tasks, and increasing its contribution as an organization that has social responsibilities and goals and exercises a meaningful impact on the character of the State of Israel.