POSTMORTEM POLITICS

Abstract

This article discusses the connection between the political behaviour model of bereavement in Israel and the ability of the military to preserve its hegemonic standing under a veil of secrecy unchallenged by civil criticism. After the War of Independence (1948), with its heavy military death toll, a model of hegemonic bereavement made its appearance. A nationalist/collectivist ideology geared to nation‐building fostered widespread support of government institutions and mobilized grief on its behalf. In this framework, the activities of bereaved parents were channelled by the state to public sites and commemoration practices, and bereavement was, in effect, nationalized. After the Yom Kippur War (1973), and following the Lebanese incursion of 1982, a political bereavement model became dominant. Parents assigned guilt for the death of their sons to the formulators of security policy – principally the Defense Minister and the Prime Minister – and engaged in media and political activities against the state. In the 1990s, following a revolution in the media and the law, the awareness of liberal values and the beginnings of a peace agreement with the Palestinians, bereaved parents whose sons had been killed in training accidents and military failures adopted a model of confrontation bereavement vis‐á‐vis the army. They engaged in public activity aimed at exposing the army to civilian criticism. The article looks at the three models and the responses of the military to each one. It appears that a close connection exists between the dominant bereavement model, the quality of army and societal relations in Israel, and the degree of transparency of the military.