Israel's Border Research Articles

Cumulative trauma: The intersection between continuous security threats and the COVID-19 pandemic among Israeli older adults.

Research on cumulative traumatic events and their consequences for older adults have yielded inconclusive findings, especially when the traumatic events are different types of events and happen simultaneously. To explore older adults' perceptions of cumulative trauma, specifically exposure to continuous security threats via living in a war zone and COVID-19. Seventeen in-depth, open-ended, and semistructured interviews were conducted with older adults living near Israel's border with Gaza. We used ATLAS.ti software to perform thematic analysis. Various perceptions of continuous security-related stress and COVID-19, indicative of categorical differences in the perceptions of the two, were found. Namely, the characteristics, difficulties, and emotions that accompanied each of the two abovementioned traumas revealed three trajectories: negative cumulative; positive cumulative; and unrelated. We suggest conceptualizing cumulative trauma responses as an intersecting trajectory model, between the effects of previous traumatic events and those of the current one, reflecting a combination of individuals' resilience and vulnerability. Suitable policies/practices in which each specific traumatic event is seen alone, as well as in tandem with others, should be implemented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Conflicts in the Middle East and Prospects for their Resolution

The article analyzes the origins, causes, a brief history, participants, external players of regional confl icts in the Middle East, development dynamics and prospects for their resolution. The author comes to the conclusion that by now most of the Middle East protracted confl icts have been frozen, but there are sporadic outbreaks of violence and provocations, accompanied by mutual rocket and artillery strikes and shelling. Mostly, such incidents take place on Israel's borders with the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. The Israeli Air Force is carrying out missile and bomb strikes against military facilities and pro-Iranian military groups in Lebanon and Syria. The Turkish authorities, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, carry out military punitive operations in northern Syria and Iraq, as a result, there are casualties among the Kurdish militias and civilians in the border areas. Local skirmishes and exchanges of blows between US military personnel and Iranian proxy forces in Syria and Iraq do not stop. Missile and drone attacks also target oil and gas production facilities, tankers of Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Persian and Oman Gulfs. In general, a fairly high level of terrorist threat remains in the region. The author believes that the weakening of the position of the United States and its Western allies in the Middle East, the course taken by the countries of the region to diversify their external relations through rapprochement with China, India, and Russia creates good prerequisites for the peaceful resolution of protracted confl icts. This is also facilitated by the normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel, Saudi Arabia with Iran, the establishment of relations with an increasing number of Arab countries with Israel, the return of Syria to the League of Arab States, etc. At the same time, sharp disagreements and fundamental contradictions remain between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine, in particular, over the status of Jerusalem, the occupied Palestinian territories and Israeli settlement activity. Lebanon and Syria have territorial claims to Israel. So far, the process of a Middle East settlement under the auspices of the UN and the quartet of international mediators has been frozen. And if Riyadh and Tehran were still able to overcome the confrontation and, with the mediation of China, Iraq and Oman, began to restore previously broken relations, then the confrontation with elements of a hybrid war between Iran and Israel remains and is fraught with escalation into an armed conflict. In recent years, the unresolved Kurdish problem has become more and more acute. Deprived by Western politicians of the right to establish their own state, the multi-million Kurdish people found themselves divided by the borders of four states, whose authorities are pursuing a clearly discriminatory policy towards their Kurdish minorities. On the agenda is the struggle of the Kurds for equal rights and freedoms with the so-called titular nations (Turks, Arabs, Persians), and in the future the creation of Kurdish autonomous regions or subjects of federations. The author comes to the conclusion that the growing trend towards a multipolar world order dictates the need for a peaceful resolution of regional conflicts and long-term enmity of peoples, creates objective prerequisites for establishing their mutually beneficial cooperation, regardless of national, ethnic, confessional affiliation.The time of domination in the countries of the third world of the colonial principle "divide and conquer" is coming to an end.

SETTLER SUBURBIA IN THE NEGEV/NAQAB: THE START-UP PIONEER IN THE DESERT

ABSTRACT Within the recognized borders of Israel, in the shadow of the West Bank settlement enterprise, a new frontier is in the making. Central planning has designated the space as a burgeoning metropolitan region, and, in a parallel process, a network of Jewish-only settlements has been established. This study asks how the settlement push is narrated to the Israeli public, and thereby adds the Naqab to previous studies exploring the link between colonial settlement and suburbia, and more specifically with the community-settlement model. It analyzes audiovisual material produced by two Zionist organizations and finds that the new frontier is narrated as a space for reenactment of the mythic pioneer trope, and that this ideal is mediated in relation to the new neoliberal ethos of Israel as the “start-up nation.” The study moreover expands on the interplay of geographic scales, thus adding an important contribution to scholarly understanding of contemporary settler-colonialism.

New Directions in Cognitive Grammar and Style

New Directions in Cognitive Grammar and Style

Israeli Border Police Commanders’ Perspectives on Leading Ad Hoc Teams during Routine and Emergency Operations

This study asks the question, How do police commanders view leadership in ad hoc formations during assigned operations? In the era of a post-heroic society, security organizations have adopted the negation of risk and the avoidance of violence as important principles. These principles are reflected in the perceptions of those leading ad hoc teams. This article presents an analysis of thirteen in-depth interviews with experienced members of the Israel Border Police who are in command of companies up to the level of battalion. The narratives of the commanders reveal a distinction between a “mission” and an operational “event” as they acknowledge the “flammability” of tasks during command operations in both Israel and the West Bank. We conclude that much of the commanders’ confidence during such operations stems from their close knowledge of the operational arena as well as the practical operational experiences they have had. Specifically, the article concludes that commander competence is manifested by the combination of their leadership style and the intimate knowledge they possess about the professional qualities of the participants in the diverse ad hoc teams they command made up of personnel from military, police, and security organizations.

Between mobile corridors and immobilizing borders: race, fixity and friction in Palestine/Israel

Abstract This article wrestles with the question of ‘national’ borders in racial capitalism. We do so through an examination of border and capitalist corridors. We focus particularly on the Israeli border, branded and then sold to the rest of the world by the epistemic community of border-makers and interlocutors. In tracking the Israeli border and showing the implication of the experts and their markets, we ask how the border reflects and is refracted through a global order organized by the twin dictates of racism and capitalism. We are especially interested in how racialized processes of bordering, ostensibly governed by national exigencies, are transplanted on to other contexts. Two points emerge from this: in the first instance, we ask who and what enables this movement of the border. And in the second, we interrogate which logics and practices are transplanted with the border, as it is reproduced and seemingly fixed in a new place. We examine the violent ontologies that give shape and reputation to Israel's high-tech border industry, which has become a model for the ever-growing global homeland security industry. We ask: has Israel's border become an exportable commodity and who are the actors who have enabled this ‘achievement’? Related to this, what sort of occlusions and structural violence does the fetishization of the Israeli border rely on?

DISPLACEMENT, NOSTALGIA AND EXPERIENCE OF RETURN: READING MOURID BARGHOUTI’S I SAW RAMALLAH

As Boym writes, "Nostalgia is an ache of temporal distance and displacement", and restorative nostalgia takes care of both of these symptoms. Distance is compensated by intimate experience and the availability of the desired object. Displacement is cured by a 'return home' (44). In this article, I study I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti and examine how this return becomes very important for the displaced. I expand on the analysis of nostalgia as a means of creating identity continuity, in the face of displacement, by adding an explicit focus on the experience of return. Set at the borders of Israel and Palestine, I Saw Ramallah, engages with Barghouti's lifelong struggle with his absence from his home. More specifically a memoir than a life narrative, it is an important walk through an individual's construction of his self in the moment he returns to the land which has brought him so much joy, and pain.

Including the Stranger: Foreigners in the Former Prophets

Including the Stranger: Foreigners in the Former Prophets

Organizational processes and gender integration in operational military units: An Israel Defense Forces case study

This study examines collective action by men and women in operational military units deployed on Israel's borders. Gender integration is generally perceived by soldiers and commanders in these units as a trivial matter rather than an issue for discussion or a disadvantage. The integration results from organizational qualities, which include military leadership with accumulated experience in gender integration; division of labour between men and women that gradually develops during protracted training; screening processes within the units; and professional development of commanders. Our findings negate a large corpus of sociological literature on gender integration in military organizations. We discuss the micro‐social processes that enable or deter mixed‐gender integration in operational units. Our findings are presented as an alternative to arguments on the inevitable marginality of women in the military and that equality is neither a prerequisite of a cohesive mixed‐gender unit nor a barrier for the inclusion of women into combat units.

Bordering on the Impossible: Optimistic Planning of Border Regions

ABSTRACT “Bordering on the impossible” has a dual meaning: the phrase means to evoke the border as a bridge rather than a separation, in order to treat even a closed border region as a joint planning unit, and to see future options beyond the current situations. At the same time, the idiomatic meaning of the phrase acknowledges the difficulty in this task. Is it possible to plan today so that in the future we will enjoy cross-border collaboration? Will “optimistic planning” facilitate future collaboration? This article presents cases in which “cross-border” thinking was carried out in planning, even when the border was a closed one and between countries where there is still no treaty, let alone a peace treaty. In the research, such planning has been called “optimistic planning” since it sees a future of open borders and understands the importance of the planning today for its fulfillment in the future. A model for cross-border planning may allow planners and decision-makers of border regions to take into account both sides of the border. This model includes the region’s citizens and NGOs to take part in the planning process. The model includes two types of processes: one, when there is a possibility of cross-border collaboration, as has been learned from the European experience. The second part of the model is when, at this time, there is no possibility of cross-border cooperation, as has been learned from the study of the planning of Israel borders.

Response

Response

Borders, Ideology, Geography and Maps – The Case of Israel

Although there are dozens of countries with present day border disputes, few have received such unrelenting international focus as Israel. Maps, cartography and geographic education support the developing doctrine of national boundaries that form collective national identity and ideology. Geographically, throughout the past century, the borders of Israel have become a melding of the phenomena of national identity with physical territory – also referred to as territorial socialization. My paper argues that Israel’s use of geographic description of borders specifically through cartography over time is an example of how boundaries are a powerful tool in the naturalization of ideology of Jewish Israelis. This argument is analyzed by examining historical and biblical cartography, territorial evolution, geography curriculum and textbooks, the Atlas of Israel and mental mapping by citizens. Varying portrayals of Israel’s historical, biblical, natural and political boundaries creates an ambiguous definition of Israel’s borders for citizens. In turn, this importantly shapes the present day religious and seculargeographies of the population of Israel as well as the political behaviours by the democratically representative Israeli government.

The Missing Argument: The Article that Changed the Course of History?

In July 1967, one month after Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights, Israel's Military Advocate General (MAG), Colonel Meir Shamgar, appeared before a Knesset committee to discuss the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s duties in the areas under its control. Col. Shamgar had led the MAG Corps in the preparations in the event that a future war would find the army occupying beyond Israel's borders. Col. Shamgar began his presentation by stating: In terms of the legal background, our point of departure is that we have to respect both the fundamental pursuits of the State of Israel as its military forces begin to control an area that has been liberated by the IDF, and the rules of public international law that apply to the actions of any military in control of an area that was, until its entry, subject to the sovereignty of a foreign political entity. The guiding rules in this realm are the rules of public international law, which are reflected in The Hague Regulations of 1907 … and in the … Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Times of War.

The Missing Argument: The Article that Changed the Course of History?

In July 1967, one month after Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights, Israel's Military Advocate General (MAG), Colonel Meir Shamgar, appeared before a Knesset committee to discuss the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s duties in the areas under its control. Col. Shamgar had led the MAG Corps in the preparations in the event that a future war would find the army occupying beyond Israel's borders. Col. Shamgar began his presentation by stating: In terms of the legal background, our point of departure is that we have to respect both the fundamental pursuits of the State of Israel as its military forces begin to control an area that has been liberated by the IDF, and the rules of public international law that apply to the actions of any military in control of an area that was, until its entry, subject to the sovereignty of a foreign political entity.The guiding rules in this realm are the rules of public international law, which are reflected in The Hague Regulations of 1907 … and in the … Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Times of War.

Alterity, Security and Everyday Geopolitics at Israel's Border with Lebanon

ABSTRACTThis article reassesses themes in the present literature on borders in political geography by using the case study of Israel's border with Lebanon. This securitized landscape invites a definition of the border predicated on a neat dichotomy between one's own identity and a foreign and dangerous “Other.” However even this border is a complex and contradictory boundary, in which residents’ attitudes, beliefs and practices are ambivalent and defy neat categorization. This study provides a more nuanced account of geographical imagination at this border by treating the borderland as a heterotopic space, rather than perceiving the border as a fixed line, and by examining the everyday “micro-political” operations and materialities that inhabitants of the border region perform and experience. While there is clearly a relationship between security and identity at this border, the outcome of this research indicates that this relationship is non-linear and more complex than can be allowed for by a hostile cultural imagination solely based on a self/Other dyad.

The Need for and Conduct of a Conflict Assessment of the Sacred Esplanade of Jerusalem

Within the much-disputed borders of Israel lies the Sacred Esplanade of Jerusalem (SEJ). Home of the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary, the SEJ is a place long considered holy by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. It is a disputed swath of land, in a city center, layered with ancient religious, historical, and archeological significance. For more than two millennia, people have lived, conquered, and made pilgrimages to this land to give voice to their prayers and faith. Control of the SEJ affects the identity, security, and spiritual longings of great numbers of people. It is a core issue of the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflicts, which contribute to regional and global destabilization. To date, negotiators and would be peacemakers have failed to acknowledge the SEJ component of the conflict as a dispute over sacred land.A conflict assessment of the SEJ must be undertaken to shed light on the possibilities and barriers for peacemaking in Jerusalem. The assessment would include the perspectives of political leaders, religious leaders, the adherent public, and secular members of the community. By illuminating the core tangible and intangible issues, an SEJ conflict assessment would provide insights and recommendations for policymakers, and, most importantly, provide a foundation for future negotiations.

EU3 Resistance to Norms in External Action: The Case of the (Future) Borders of Israel and Palestine

This article deals with the resistance of France, Germany and the United Kingdom (EU3) to comply with the EU norms regarding the (future) borders of Israel and Palestine. To do so, it focuses on two cases studies: the issue of Israel’s exports to the EU originating from the settlements, and EU companies operating in settlements in East Jerusalem. The EU3’s reactions differ when it comes to ensure the implementation of the EU soft law regarding the two state solution, and more particularly the issue of future borders. Yet, they all reflect the Member States’ resistance to directly enforce CFSP norms on this matter. In the case of a territorial dispute, the EU’s soft and hard laws are de facto intertwined through EU external action. As matter of fact, the rule of origin defined in EU free trade agreements with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority strongly relies on CFSP positions regarding their future borders. This article argues that conflicting objectives related to this issue between Member States and the EU and among national actors account for the EU3’s resistance attitudes. In other words, a certain form of cognitive distance – the fourth hypothesis of the introduction – between the content of EU norms and Member States’ objectives affects the implementation of CFSP norms. In this case, Germany’s reaction to the Brita case demonstrates its unwillingness to take direct responsibility for setting a precedent regarding the sensitive case of Israeli exports from the settlements, due to its special relationship with Israel. France’s cautious reaction is more particularly related to the latent conflict within its population about this issue. The United Kingdom’s preference for the labelling solution illustrates its liberal nature and its willingness to let British consumers assume the responsibility to decide, though this solution proves difficult to implement in fact. Yet, this article also shows that these resistance attitudes can also lead to the renegotiation of the means of implementation of CFSP norms on this matter, and potentially to their strengthening.

Coexistence and Reconciliation in Israel: Voices for Interreligious Dialogue ed. by Ronald Kronish (review)

Reviewed by: Coexistence and Reconciliation in Israel: Voices for Interreligious Dialogue ed. by Ronald Kronish Eugene J. Fisher Coexistence and Reconciliation in Israel: Voices for Interreligious Dialogue. Edited by Ronald Kronish. A Stimulus Book. New York and Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2015. Pp. 268. $29.95, paper. This volume is of major significance for all interested in Jewish-Christian-Muslim trialogue or dialogues among Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Rabbi Kronish has been involved in dialogue and education in Israel for more than two decades. He gathers reflections from twenty-two Muslims, Christians, and Jews who are actively engaged in peacebuilding, which he distinguishes from peacemaking. The latter is the work of diplomats, while the former can build the foundation for its success. The book has five sections dealing with Jewish-Christian, Jewish-Muslim, education, methodologies, and reaching out to the international community. The Rev. Michael McGarry, CSP, who was for eleven years the rector of Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem, sums up the nature of dialogue as opening oneself to the fullness of the humanity of the other, faithfully seeking to understand and to work together with the other to communicate the shared understandings with others. He praises the courage of those engaged in these efforts in a part of the world so often and so tragically wracked with violence and intergroup hatred. Unlike interreligious dialogues in Europe and the Americas, those involved in Israel and the territories are dealing not just with the past and looking toward a better future but also with a very dangerous present. Space will not allow a full summary of these excellent articles. A few will have to suffice to indicate the rich feast of differing yet hope-filled perspectives and lived experiences. Yisca Harani indicates with humor the challenges of Jewish tour guides’ attempting to understand varying groups of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, how to speak with them and communicate what Israel means to Jewish Israelis. Amnon Ramon provides a summary of Israel-Vatican relations from 1948 to 1973, though he errs badly when he claims that the Holy See was theologically opposed to Israel’s establishment (pp. 18–19). In fact, the Holy See expressed reservations only in response to the theological arguments presented by Theodor Herzl, who had used them effectively with the evangelical Lord Balfour of England and unwisely offered the same arguments to the pope. The Vatican a few days later communicated with Herzl that it would welcome a Jewish state for “humanitarian” reasons. If the Holy See had in fact opposed the Jewish state, it could have used its influence with Catholic countries [End Page 506] around the world to convince them to vote against the United Nations partition plan. Yet it did not and virtually all Catholic nations voted in favor of Israel. A number of the authors, such as Maureena Fritz and David Neuhaus, SJ, note the distinctiveness of the dialogue in Israel where, for the first time in history, Jews are in the majority. Kronish contributes two essays analyzing Muslim diversity and the lessons learned through dialogues. Amy Kronish notes the lessons of understanding that can be found in Israeli films. Ghassan Manasra delves into involving children in dialogues, as does Marc Rosenstein’s report on the Galilee Circus. Abdessalam Najjar describes the community of Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom, while David Rosen and Deborah Weissman reach out beyond the borders of Israel, religiously and socially. Eugene J. Fisher Saint Leo University, Saint Leo, FL Copyright © 2015 Journal of Ecumenical Studies

이스라엘의 안보환경과 국방정책

This paper is to analyze Israel``s security environment and defense policy. For the purpose of that, this paper searches for Israel``s history and changing security environment, Israel``s defence policy and military strategy, its implications and lessons for Korea, and conclusion. Israel borders Lebanon in the North, Syria in the Northeast, Jordan in the East, Egypt in the Southwest, and the Palestinian territories(or State of Palestine) comprising the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the east and southwest respectively. Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab countries to have made peace with Israel. Israel is a republic in Southwest Asia, on the Mediterranean Sea: established in 1948, in the former British mandate of Palestine, as a primarily Jewish state; 8 disputes with Arab neighbours (who did not recognize the state of Israel), erupted into full-scale wars in 1948, 1956, 1967 (the Six Day War), and 1973 (the Yom Kippur War). The Israel Defense Forces is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and is headed by its Chief of General Staff, the Ramatkal, subordinate to the Cabinet. The Israel Defense Forces(founded during the 1948 Arab.Israeli War) is the military forces of the State of Israel, and consists of the army, air force and navy. The IDF also draws upon the resources of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman), which works with the Mossad and Shabak. The IDF has been involved in several major wars and border conflicts in its short history, making it one of the most battle-trained armed forces in the world. The IDF maintains approximately 176,500 active troops and an additional 445,000 reservists. The nation``s military relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems designed and manufactured in Israel as well as some foreign imports. Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. Israel has about 400 nuclear bombs secretly, and Israel prefers not to discuss the nuclear issue at all. Israel is one of the best equipped militaries in the world and its weapons industry is responsible for many technological advancements in modern warfare. It should come as no surprise, then, that Israel has the capacity to strike its targets with extreme precision. Deterrence also means restoring the standing of the Israel Defence Forces. Israeli military doctrine and its offensive, defensive and deterrence strategies are identified as the most important subcomponents of the security policy. Military service is compulsory in Israel, with men serving three years and women two. Most Israelis are drafted into the military at the age of 18. Men serve three years and women two to three years. In particular, since military service is compulsory in Israel, many young people get a high-tech education unlike any other Although the regional security environment has deteriorated, Israel remains a strong state. Israeli society has displayed remarkable resilience in the past when faced with severe national security tests. Despite the impressionistic reports of a divided Israel, nowadays it is more united than ever, ready to continue to live by its sword. With the right leadership, Israel can make the right choices and weather the current crisis. We should learn many lessons and implication from major features of Israeli defense policy(①Self-reliant national defense posture, ②Reinforcement of military force that value quality over quantity, ③Maintenance of solid deterrence, ④Efficient management of integrated forces and constant reserve forces) and major features of Israeli military strategy(①Preemptive strike, ② Transferring the battlefield to the enemy’s territory, ③Promoting the quickest decisive victory). History may repeat itself if we do not learn our lessons from the sore past that we should be strong enough to repel aggression from any nation. The moment we forget, history will repeat itself. We always should keep in mind the universal lesson of history that we have to prepare for war if we really want peace.

First Report of the Occurrence and Resistance to Mefenoxam of Peronospora belbahrii, Causal Agent of Downy Mildew of Basil (Ocimum basilicum) in Israel.

Downy mildew in basil was first reported from Uganda in 1933 (4). In 2004, it was reported from Italy (3) and, thereafter, from other countries around the world. In Israel, the disease was first observed in November 2011 in two greenhouses located in the northern part of the Jordan Valley. Within a month, second and third outbreaks of the disease occurred simultaneously near the southwest and southeast borders of Israel, 250 km from the initial disease outbreak. By the summer of 2012, the disease had appeared throughout the country, causing major economic damage. The causal agent, identified as Peronospora belbahrii (see below), produced chlorotic lesions on leaf blades with sporangia developing on the lower leaf surfaces. Lesions gradually turn necrotic, and infected leaves abscised. Sporangia were dark purple, oval, 30.4 ± 2.9 μm long × 21.4 ± 1.7 μm wide. Sporangiophores emerged from stomatal openings in a saturated atmosphere, were hyaline, 400 to 600 μm long, dichotomously branched, with three to five branches per sporangiophore, and bore a single sporangium on each branchlet tip. Oospores, seldom seen, were brown, round, and 46.2 ± 2.8 μm in diameter. Sporangia germinated directly, each producing a single germ tube that penetrated the periclinal wall of epidermal cells. PCR assays using sporangia and infected leaves as the template, and specific BAZ primers (1), produced a 134-bp band typical of P. belbahrii (1,2). Twenty isolates, collected from 12 locations in Israel from December 2011 to September 2012, were all sensitive to mefenoxam as the isolates did not cause symptoms on 15-leaf, potted basil plants (cv. Peri, Volcani Center, Israel) that were sprayed with 10 μg mefenoxam/ml (Ridomil Gold 48%, Syngenta, Basel, Switzerland) prior to inoculation. However, one isolate collected in early October 2012 from a severely infected plant in a greenhouse at Rehov in Bet-Shaan Valley, in which the plants had been treated with mefenoxam, was resistant to mefenoxan, showing abundant sporulation on leaves of potted basil plants that had been sprayed with 1,000 μg of mefenoxam/ml prior to inoculation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the occurrence of downy mildew in basil in Israel. This is also the first global report of resistance to mefenoxam in P. belbahrii.