The Mizrahi Body in War Literature

The article examines the literary representation of the Mizrahi soldier in the wars during Israel’s first decade, a subject that is almost entirely absent from literary and scholarly discourse about that period. The texts discussed were written during the 1950s and 1960s by hegemonic writers and present “Orientalized” soldiers who fought in the war. The Mizrahi soldier has a dual status: he participates in the battle for the country’s borders while simultaneously presenting a threat to its social and cultural image. These issues are examined by exposing the orientalist gaze on the ambivalent representation of the Mizrahi body, which shifts between the figure of the legendary warrior and the animalistic lump of flesh.