Militarism and Israeli Society

Introduction

1 Introduction Gabriel Sheffer and Oren Barak Although “security” is probably the most central issue pertaining to the lives of all Israeli citizens, it is usually dealt with by politicians, academics , and media commentators using traditional and conventional theoretical and analytical tools. Thus, the study of the various aspects of the relationship between Israel’s “civil” and “military–security” spheres and actual sectors more often than not focuses on its formal facets while overlooking its more informal features, which are most influential in these relationships. It is thus not surprising that most of these traditional conventional studies1 contend that, despite some deviations from an ideal democratic model, the civilian sector in Israel has maintained its predominance over the security sector since the state’s independence in 1948. This has been the prevalent view with regard to all of Israel’s political and military relative successes and major failures, including, most recently, the Israel–Hizbullah War in 2006 (the “Second Lebanon War”). The essays included in this book challenge this premise by critically and systematically reexamining the relationship between Israel’s civil and security sectors and providing a deeper and more nuanced view of the actual situation in this regard. They throw light on the formal and informal arrangements, connections, and dynamic relations between Israel’s security sector, on the one hand, and the country’s civilian sector —the cultural sphere, political system, society, the economy, and the public discourse—on the other hand. To critically and systematically reexamine this important subject the editors of this volume (together with Amiram Oren) established the 2 · militarism and israeli society Workshop on Israeli Security and Society (hereafter: the Workshop) under the provocative title An Army Who Has a State? at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. The goal of the Workshop was twofold: first, to discuss and present new and innovative ideas regarding the relationship between Israel’s security and civilian sectors, and to do so from a critical and interdisciplinary perspective; second, to expose Israeli politicians, academics, professionals, and the general public to the resultant new insights regarding these issues. The Workshop participants, who included Israeli scholars and practitioners interested in these questions, critically examined: 1) the concept of “security” in Israel; 2) the various components of Israel’s large and powerful security sector; 3) the roles and influence of serving and retired security officials; and 4) the impact of security policies on the political, social, economic, and cultural spheres both generally and in particular instances. The book, an expanded version of a special volume of the journal Israel Studies 12.1 (2006), presents the main findings discussed within the framework of the Workshop and in an international conference organized by the editors to further discuss and publicize the findings of the participants in the Workshop and specialists in civil–security relations whom we invited from abroad. The fifteen chapters provide innovative and critical perspectives on the changing roles of the politically, bureaucratically , and discursively dominant security sector in Israel and its relationship with the civilian sector.2 After more than sixty years of Israeli statehood, the contributors to this volume feel that it is high time to reconsider old analytical and normative notions of “what ought to be?” with regard to Israel’s security sector and patterns of civil–security relations, and to focus instead on “what is actually there?” Most contributors view the situation in this regard in Israel as highly complex, fluid, and under constant change, but at the same time it exhibits a degree of continuity, particularly as far as the nonseparation and significant overlapping of Israel’s civilian and security spheres and sectors are concerned. In order to clarify the existing complicated reality, and to do so in a fresh, interdisciplinary fashion, the contributors deal not only with the role of the security sector in Israel’s politics and society—which is the main focus of previous contributions on this topic3 —but also discuss other facets of Israel’s civil–security relationship, including the role of introduction · 3 the security sector vis-à-vis the country’s culture, civil society, bureaucracy , economy, educational system, gender relations, internal territory, and the media. This reflects the overall goal which is not only to provide a broader and more nuanced understanding of Israel’s civil–security relationship but also to suggest how this issue could be further explored theoretically, analytically, and empirically and applied to other states that face similar...