The Making of Israeli Militarism

Why do Israelis view reality through a gunsight? How did Israel become a nation in arms? Uri Ben-Eliezer traces the origins of Israeli militarism and examines the sociological phenomenon of the civilian adoption of military solutions to political problems. In the period between 1936 and 1956, he argues, the idea that the Jewish-Arab conflict could be resolved by military force gradually acquired legitimation and became a dominant ethos for the internal politics of the Yishuv and afterward of Israel. Extensively documented, The Making of Israeli Militarism sheds light on the social, cultural, and political processes and on the charged relations, especially between IsraelÕs founding fathers and the ÒmilitarizedÓ native-born generation that came of age in the 1930s and 40s, which helped validate the use of organized violence as the solution to the Jewish-Arab conflict. While casting a penetrating light on IsraelÕs past, The Making of Israeli Militarism also touches the raw nerves of present-day Israeli society and raises questions that are crucial for its future.