Strategic Assessment

The State of Israel has often donned its uniform in times of emergency and placed national security ahead of individual welfare. The IDF was the army of the people, and the reserves model that was devised in the 1950s was the strongest expression of this ideal. Military reserve duty was considered a sign of genuine “Israeliness,” part of the national ethos and, for better or worse, a civil obligation. Manual laborers and senior executives alike, regardless of socioeconomic standing, found themselves leaving their families and their jobs for a set time each year to fulfill their duty to the state. Reserve service was a norm, and the defense establishment viewed the reserve forces as “a strategic human resource” capable of deploying rapidly and winning wars. As David Ben-Gurion put it, “Our security is first and foremost built on our reserve forces.” As such, one of the standing army’s unofficial duties is to train, prepare, drill, and most of all “produce” reserve soldiers within a limited period.