Military, State, and Society in Israel: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives

by Ben-Ari,Eyal

• ISBN13: 9780765800428
• ISBN10: 076580042X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

There have been many books on the place of war, security, or military service in Israeli society. The Military, State, and Society in Israel makes contributions to the debate -- theoretical, empirical, and polemical -- that are related to the Israeli case and to wider debates about the place of war and the military in contemporary industrialized societies. The book encapsulates tensions in the relationships between the military, state, and society and stands at the core of contemporary debates between two fundamental approaches: the "armed forces and society" school and the "state-making and war" perspective.Israel is currently debating many of its fundamental assumptions: the ethnic character of nationhood and statehood; the role of the Jewish diaspora vis-a-vis Israel; the legitimacy of Jewish "ethnic pluralism"; the meaning of the Holocaust; privatization of social life and the spread of consumerism; and weakening of the centralized state as the agent of social transformation affecting housing, language, health, technology, production, dress, and child-rearing. One important consequence of these internal conflicts and struggles has been a significant erosion in the almost sacred status once enjoyed by state institutions, and especially the military, among the majority of Jewish population."Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives", situates Israel in its wider theoretical and comparative context and shows how the study of Israel contributes to the theoretical understanding of contemporary changes in civil-military relations. "The Politics of Civil-Military Relations", concentrates on current changes in Israeli politics, the character of the conflict with the Palestinians, andthe place of military in society. "The State and War-Making -- Creating Citizens, Soldiers, and Men and Women", indicates how war and the military are not only instruments for state-making, but are also important factors in t

Table of Contents

Preface	i
Introduction: Military, State and Society in Israel: An Introductory Essay	1	(42)
Eyal Ben-Ari
Zeev Rosenhek
Daniel Maman
Part 1: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives
Western-Type Civil-Military Relations Revisited	43	(38)
Bernard Boene
From Wars of Independence to Democratic Peace: Comparing the Cases of Israel and the United States	81	(26)
James Burk
Part 2: The Politics of Civil-Military Relations
Civil-Military Relations in Israel in Crisis	107	(30)
Yoram Peri
From Military Role-Expansion to Difficulties in Peace-Making: The Israel Defense Forces 50 Years On	137	(36)
Uri Ben-Eliezer
Dimensions of Tension between Religion and Military Service in Contemporary Israel	173	(30)
Stuart A. Cohen
Part 3: The State and War-Making---Creating Citizens, Soldiers and Men and Women
Paradoxes of Women's Service in the Israel Defense Forces	203	(36)
Dafna N. Izraeli
Tests of Soldierhood, Trails of Manhood: Military Service and Male Ideals in Israel	239	(30)
Eyal Ben-Ari
Galeet Dardashti
The Meaning of War Through Veterans' Eyes: A Phenomenological Analysis of Life Stories	269	(26)
Edna Lomsky-Feder
Citizenship Regime, Identity and Peace Protest in Israel	295	(26)
Sara Helman
Part 4: The Notion of ``National Security''---Institutions and Concepts
The Link between the Government and the IDF During Israel's First 50 Years: The Shifting Role of the Defense Minister	321	(22)
Amir Bar-Or
A New Concept of National Security Applied on Israel	343	(18)
Henning Sorensen
Part 5: The Armed Forces as Organization---Continuity and Change
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF): A Conservative or an Adaptive Organization?	361	(10)
Reuven Gal
Organizational Complexity, Trust and Deceit in the Israeli Air Force	371	(24)
Luis Roniger
Epilogue: Uniqueness and Normalization in Military-Government Relations in Israel	395	(28)
Moshe Lissak
Contributors	423	(2)
Name Index	425	(2)
Subject Index	427