Militarism and Israeli Society

13 Visual Representations of IDF Women Soldiers and “Civil-Militarism” in Israel

304 thirteen Visual Representations of IDF Women Soldiers and “Civil-Militarism” in Israel Chava Brownfield-Stein In September 1949, during a period of “postwar” or “in-between” wars, the first Knesset discussed national military service and approved the Security Service Law (SSL).1 This law laid the foundations for a phenomenon that was very unusual for its time: the mandatory conscription of both Jewish men and women over the age of eighteen. The SSL of 1949 has since proved crucial in shaping the distinctive features of Israeli society , the Israeli army—the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)—and the complex relations between the individual, the military, political institutions, and the civil sphere in Israel. The IDF was established in 1948 to “defend the existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Israel” and “to protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten the daily life”; the concepts of military, national security, and defense have been understood as fundamental to the very existence of Israel.2 Ever since these public debates on women’s conscription and the SSL, the terms mandatory military service, draft, and women’s conscription have been integrated into every aspect of life.3 Visual representations of women soldiers fascinated the media in Israel and around the world, and their photographs have been part of Israel’s cultural codex. Photos of women in uniform filtered into the national memory, shaped the image of the IDF as “the people’s army,” and simultaneously formed the image of Israel as a “nation-in-arms.”4 This chapter focuses on the visual representations of IDFWS (IDF women soldiers) and is the first to address the role of the visual field and visual representations of idf women soldiers · 305 the significant impact of photographs of female soldiers on the militaristic character of Israeli society.5 Focusing on the visual field represents another step in the effort to widen the boundaries of understanding the social and cultural phenomena that Israeli scholars defined by various terms, among them Civic Militarism,6 Materialist Militarism,7 and Cognitive-Cultural Militarism.8 If militarization of society is achieved through the naturalization of militaristic values, a study of Israeli militarism would be incomplete without considering the visual ramifications of the SSL and the unique phenomenon of women’s conscription, and without discussing visual representations of IDFWS in army camps, city streets, and military parades. Although photos of IDFWS became icons for the new Israeli state, their cultural militaristic influences and implications have thus far remained invisible for academic research. Through visual genealogy, this chapter analyzes and reconsiders the process through which major organizational principles of Israeli society “become controlled by, [dependent] on, or [derive] their value from the military as an institution or militaristic criteria.”9 Military penetration will also be discussed throughout Israeli culture, and attention drawn to the visual aspects of the evasive and ever-changing processes of the militarization of Israeli society. Discussed are the cultural and aesthetic products of these informal , indirect, and hidden processes. Their pleasurable implications and erotic aspects are illuminated using photos of IDFWS from the period 1948–1968 as a case study. Focusing on the visual aspects of the unique phenomenon of women’s conscription draws attention to the pleasurable dimension of the connections between “technologies of the self” and “technologies of domination”—what Foucault termed governmentality— and illuminates the militaristic links between the constitution of the subject and the formation of the state.10 Photos are examined of IDFWS from the first two decades of Israel’s statehood, drawing on materials found in Israeli archives. Building on Cynthia H. Enloe’s theoretical framework and definition of militarism, the chapter defines the unique phenomenon of cultural militarism in Israel as “erotic militarism.” Following Enloe’s ideas and those of other feminist scholars such as Miriam Cooke, Angela Woollacott, and Madelain Adelman, the first part briefly clarifies the differences and similarities between the terms 306 · chava brownfield-stein militarism and militarization.11 It will expose the blind spots of the established perspectives, illuminate the visual aspects of mandatory women’s service, and exhibit one informal practice through which Israeli society has become militarized. Based on the study of visual culture, cultural studies, and broader interdisciplinary attempts to examine the cultural and social-political arena, I suggest that phenomena such as militarism or militarization cannot be adequately comprehended without adopting an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Only...