Download or read book An Army Like No Other written by Haim Bresheeth-Zabner and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the IDF that argues that Israel is a nation formed by its army. The Israeli army, officially named the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), was established in 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, who believed that 'the whole nation is the army'. In his mind, the IDF was to be an army like no other. It was the instrument that might transform a diverse population into a new people. Since the foundation of Israel, therefore, the IDF has been the largest, richest and most influential institution in Israel's Jewish society and is the nursery of its social, economic and political ruling class. In this fascinating history, Bresheeth charts the evolution of the IDF from the Nakba to the continued assaults upon Gaza, and shows that the state of Israel has been formed out of its wars. He also gives an account of his own experiences as a young conscript during the 1967 war. He argues that the army is embedded in all aspects of daily life and identity. And that we should not merely see it as a fighting force enjoying an international reputation, but as the central ideological, political and financial institution of Israeli society. As a consequence, we have to reconsider our assumptions on what any kind of peace might look like.

Download or read book A History of the Israeli Army 1874 to the Present written by Ze'ev Schiff and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2024-05-23 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “It is virtually impossible to understand Israel or the Middle East without understanding Israel’s military history and its security needs. There are many books that attempt to provide such a history, but Ze’ev Schiff’s concise History of the Israeli Army is unquestionably the most successful... he writes with great objectivity and probes issues that most Israeli military writers prefer to dodge... Mr. Schiff’s ability to come to grips with the fact that both Israel and the Arab states bordering it used tactics the other side regards as terrorism, and continue to use them, is matched by his skill in summarizing the causes, course and outcome of the large-scale Arab-Israeli conflicts in 1956, 1967 and 1973 and the war of attrition in 1969-70. Mr. Schiff provides an excellent summary of the political and military forces that shaped Israel’s behavior in each war. He neither justifies nor excuses Israel’s behavior, and he does not justify or excuse Israel’s motives and goals — he is content to explain them. He also explains the factors that shaped Arab behavior and gives the causes of Arab defeats without editorializing... Mr. Schiff avoids technical issues, tactics and the details of battles; he focuses on the main flow of events. He provides a short history of the major events shaping Israel’s military forces and strategy before and during each war. His descriptions of military events flow naturally out of his accounts of political motives and strategy. His chapter on doctrine ties together the histories of the different conflicts, and it should be read by anyone who feels Israel somehow has caused most of its wars... His chapter on the 1982 war in Lebanon is the most incisive reporting yet done on that event, a model of how good defense reporting can be when it looks beyond the day-to-day flow of events and searches out the underlying pattern of military conflict and its causes. Mr. Schiff presents the war as one in which Mr. Sharon, then Israel’s Minister of Defense, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory... Mr. Schiff’s treatment of Mr. Sharon and the P.L.O.’s high command is devastating; it adds up to one of the best arguments against violence as a solution to the problems of the Middle East ever written... In short, Mr. Schiff has written a history that any historian or political or military analyst must envy.” — The New York Times “[A] story concisely and clearly told. Schiff’s ability to deal with Israeli military matters accurately and analytically... is in evidence as usual... This is a good introduction to the subject and well written.” — Middle East Journal “[I]f one does not have a basic book on the Israeli Army, this is one of the best.” — Military Affairs

Download or read book A History of the Israeli Army 1870 1974 written by Zeev Schiff and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bog om den israelske hærs historie og om staten Israels krigshistorie i vort århundrede. Biblioteket har tillige den ændrede 2. udg. fra 1985. - Overs. af Raphael Rothstein.

Download or read book The Israeli Army 1948 1973 written by Edward Luttwak and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A History of the Israeli Army written by Zeev Schiff and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Making of Israel s Army written by Yigal Allon and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Our Harsh Logic written by and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-09-18 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hundreds of Israeli soldiers speak out about the Palestinian occupation, revealing that their presence is not merely for defense, but also to accelerate the acquisition of Palestinian land and work against an independent Palestinian nation.

Download or read book The Israel Defense Forces written by Louis Williams and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2000-09-29 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insiders view of the Army of Israel, its structure, its men and women and its most memorable actions.

Download or read book The Making of Israel s Army written by Yigal Allon and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2024-07-03 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Allon recounts the growth of the Israeli army from its inception in the 1880’s, when Jewish communities in Palestine formed their first small self-defence groups, through the Haganah’s clandestine period in the 1920’s and 30’s and the fighting after 1945 when army and state together achieved legality, to the Sinai Campaign of 1956 and the Six-Day War in June 1967 when the army reached maturity... His precise, economical narrative, interspersed with brief passages of analysis, is supplemented by extensive documentation, which is especially interesting in the way it traces the development of attitudes and doctrine in the Israeli forces. The work is a valuable contribution... It tells us a great deal about the organization, in its various stages, that fought the wars, and helps explain why these assumed the forms that they did, and why they succeeded... a study that is more than a history of a military organization.” — Middle Eastern Studies “Allon has contributed an extended essay concerned with the Israeli Government’s military philosophy, policy, and strategy rather than an administrative and technical history... half the book contains several important reports and policy statements, not easily available in English, describing military actions undertaken between 1941 and 1967. Allon... was an important contributor to the development of the Israeli Defense Forces... a rather breathtaking sweep in which hardly a word is wasted.” — The American Political Science Review “Allon seeks to explain in concise format, the development of Israel’s military doctrines of defense. The author... was former Palmach commander, one of the architects of the IDF, and a commander of various military units and on several battlefronts during Israel’s War of Independence.” — Middle East Journal “The development of Israel’s armed forces and military doctrine in the context of that country’s unique strategic needs... Especially interesting are the criticisms of some of [the Israeli] government’s decisions taken just before and during the Six Day War.” — Foreign Affairs “[A]n account, authoritative in content, modest in tone, of the growth and character of the Israeli army by one of its principal creators and leaders.” — International Affairs “Allon... gives a short historical and technical account of the evolution of an Israeli fighting capability over the past 70 years. The exploits of this army are significant and should be analyzed... No less interesting are the book’s descriptions of individual actions by participants in the first and second of Israel’s wars... The value of the book stems partly from a continuity of perspective on Israel’s strategic problems from 1948 to August, 1969... [a] useful book.” — Military Affairs

Download or read book The Israeli Military and the Origins of the 1967 War written by Ami Gluska and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-02-12 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new book looks at the relationship between the Israeli armed forces, the government, and the origins of the 1967 War. Ami Gluska discusses the effect of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Israel’s defense policy between 1963-1967 against the backdrop of the developments in the Middle East. In addition, he describes in detail the decision-making process leading to the Arab-Israeli Six Day War in June 1967 through the prism of the relations between the military and political echelons. He shows how the Six Day War was a watershed event in the Middle-Eastern conflict and had a profound effect on the development of the Palestinian problem and the character of the State of Israel over the past four decades. This book will be of great interest to students of Middle Eastern politics, strategic studies, Israeli politics and military history in general.

Download or read book The Sword And The Olive written by Martin Van Creveld and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2008-08-06 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining razor-sharp analysis with dramatic narrative, vivid portraits of soldiers and commanders with illuminating discussions of battle tactics and covert actions, The Sword and the Olive traces the history of the IDF from its beginnings in Palestine to today. The book also goes beyond chronology to wrestle with the political and ethical struggles that have shaped the IDF and the country it serves—struggles that are manifesting themselves in the recent tragic escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Often revisionist in attitude, surprising in many of its conclusions, this book casts new light on the struggle for peace in the Middle East.

Download or read book The Military and Militarism in Israeli Society written by Edna Lomsky-Feder and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Military and Militarism in Israeli Society systematically examines the cultural and social construction of 'things military' within Israel. Contributors from comparative literature, film studies, sociology, anthropology, geography, history, and cultural studies explore the arenas in which the centrality of military matters are produced and reproduced by the state and by other public bodies. Analysis is presented using three perspectives: the production and reproduction of collective representations; the dynamics of gender, voice, and resistance; and the construction of individual life-worlds.

Download or read book The Weapon Wizards written by Yaakov Katz and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2017-01-31 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A lively account of Israel's evolving military prowess...if The Weapon Wizards were a novel, it would be one written by Horatio Alger; if it were a biblical allegory, it would be the story of David and Goliath." —The New York Times Book Review From drones to satellites, missile defense systems to cyber warfare, Israel is leading the world when it comes to new technology being deployed on the modern battlefield. The Weapon Wizards shows how this tiny nation of 8 million learned to adapt to the changes in warfare and in the defense industry and become the new prototype of a 21st century superpower, not in size, but rather in innovation and efficiency—and as a result of its long war experience. Sitting on the front lines of how wars are fought in the 21st century, Israel has developed in its arms trade new weapons and retrofitted old ones so they remain effective, relevant, and deadly on a constantly-changing battlefield. While other countries begin to prepare for these challenges, they are looking to Israel—and specifically its weapons—for guidance. Israel is, in effect, a laboratory for the rest of the world. How did Israel do it? And what are the military and geopolitical implications of these developments? These are some of the key questions Yaakov Katz and Amir Bohbot address. Drawing on a vast amount of research, and unparalleled access to the Israeli defense establishment, this book is a report directly from the front lines.

Download or read book Jews and the Military written by Derek J. Penslar and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-06 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historical reevaluation of the relationship between Jews, miltary service, and war Jews and the Military is the first comprehensive and comparative look at Jews' involvement in the military and their attitudes toward war from the 1600s until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Derek Penslar shows that although Jews have often been described as people who shun the army, in fact they have frequently been willing, even eager, to do military service, and only a minuscule minority have been pacifists. Penslar demonstrates that Israel's military ethos did not emerge from a vacuum and that long before the state's establishment, Jews had a vested interest in military affairs. Spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East, Penslar discusses the myths and realities of Jewish draft dodging, how Jews reacted to facing their coreligionists in battle, the careers of Jewish officers and their reception in the Jewish community, the effects of World War I on Jewish veterans, and Jewish participation in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Penslar culminates with a study of Israel's War of Independence as a Jewish world war, which drew on the military expertise and financial support of a mobilized, global Jewish community. He considers how military service was a central issue in debates about Jewish emancipation and a primary indicator of the position of Jews in any given society. Deconstructing old stereotypes, Jews and the Military radically transforms our understanding of Jews' historic relationship to war and military power.

Download or read book Combined Arms Warfare in Israeli Military History written by David Rodman and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combined arms warfare (CAW) -- the integration of different arms on the battlefield (e.g., armor, infantry, artillery, aircraft, and engineers) in order to achieve maximal efficiency there -- is as old as war itself. Every army across both time and space that has engaged in combat has practiced one version or another of CAW, whether consciously or otherwise. The Israel Defenxse Forces (IDF) has been no exception to the rule. This book traces the Israeli experience with CAW from the countrys War of Independence in 194749 (against a coalition of Arab states) through Operation Protective Edge in 2014 (against a coalition of Hamas-led terrorist/insurgent groups). It describes and analyzes the IDFs practice of CAW in each interstate war (IW), asymmetrical war (AW), and low-intensity conflict (LIC) that Israel has fought since the countrys establishment in the mid-twentieth century. The book also highlights the Israeli approach to CAW in respect of special operations (SPEC OPS). With no end in sight to the ArabIsraeli conflict, and with further hostilities between Israel and its neighbors virtually assured in the future, Combined Arms Warfare in Israeli Military History constitutes an essential addition to the literature about Middle Eastern warfare. This book is aimed primarily at the academic and research community, but it is fully accessible to anyone with an interest in Israeli military history.

Download or read book Studies in Generalship written by Meir Finkel and published by Hoover Press. This book was released on 2021-10-01 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The commander, or chief of staff, of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is a prominent public figure in Israel. His decisions, advice, and persona are held in high regard by Israel's public and leadership, and have indirect impacts on social, economic, and foreign affairs. But until now, an in-depth study on the role and performance of the IDF's chiefs of staff has been sorely absent. In this study, Meir Finkel offers a robust and original comparative perspective on the IDF chiefs of staff throughout modern Israel's history, examining their conduct in six key areas: identifying change in the strategic environment, developing familiarity with all military domains, managing crises with wartime generals, rehabilitating the army after a botched war, leading a transformation in force design, and building relationships with the political echelon. The challenging and critical role of the chief of staff demands profound knowledge and authority in a vast and diverse range of fields. By providing a perspective that the IDF's known history has lacked until now, Finkel gives insights that may assist current and future high-rank leaders worldwide in carrying out their important work and offers lessons to students everywhere of strategy, military history, and military transformation.

Download or read book Fortress Israel written by Patrick Tyler and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2012-09-18 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Once in the military system, Israelis never fully exit," writes the prizewinning journalist Patrick Tyler in the prologue to Fortress Israel. "They carry the military identity for life, not just through service in the reserves until age forty-nine . . . but through lifelong expectations of loyalty and secrecy." The military is the country to a great extent, and peace will only come, Tyler argues, when Israel's military elite adopt it as the national strategy. Fortress Israel is an epic portrayal of Israel's martial culture—of Sparta presenting itself as Athens. From Israel's founding in 1948, we see a leadership class engaged in an intense ideological struggle over whether to become the "light unto nations," as envisioned by the early Zionists, or to embrace an ideology of state militarism with the objective of expanding borders and exploiting the weaknesses of the Arabs. In his first decade as prime minister, David Ben-Gurion conceived of a militarized society, dominated by a powerful defense establishment and capable of defeating the Arabs in serial warfare over many decades. Bound by self-reliance and a stern resolve never to forget the Holocaust, Israel's military elite has prevailed in war but has also at times overpowered Israel's democracy. Tyler takes us inside the military culture of Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, and Benjamin Netanyahu, introducing us to generals who make decisions that trump those of elected leaders and who disdain diplomacy as appeasement or surrender. Fortress Israel shows us how this martial culture envelops every family. Israeli youth go through three years of compulsory military service after high school, and acceptance into elite commando units or air force squadrons brings lasting prestige and a network for life. So ingrained is the martial outlook and identity, Tyler argues, that Israelis are missing opportunities to make peace even when it is possible to do so. "The Zionist movement had survived the onslaught of world wars, the Holocaust, and clashes of ideology," writes Tyler, "but in the modern era of statehood, Israel seemed incapable of fielding a generation of leaders who could adapt to the times, who were dedicated to ending . . . [Israel's] isolation, or to changing the paradigm of military preeminence." Based on a vast array of sources, declassified documents, personal archives, and interviews across the spectrum of Israel's ruling class, FortressIsrael is a remarkable story of character, rivalry, conflict, and the competing impulses for war and for peace in the Middle East.