Israeli Military Research Articles

Farming the front line

UN OCHA, the international body tasked with the documentation of the impacts of the ongoing conflict and occupation in Israel and Palestine, noted as early as 2009 that the No Go Zones imposed by the Israeli military represented a taking of 30% of the total arable land in Gaza (UN OCHA OPT 2010. ‘Between the Fence and a Hard Place.’ UN OCHA Special Reports, 1–36). This taking, as part of a larger siege on Gaza, creates great difficulty for farmers attempting to support the nutritional needs of the population of the territory. These zones, coupled with the increasing reliance on unreliable food aid provided by the United Nations, undermines independent development and food sustainability within the Gaza Strip. In response, a small number of Gazan farmers are risking life and limb to return to these areas and plant essential food crops knowing that they are thereby targets of lethal violence from the Israeli occupation forces. This paper, based on a series of interviews and participant observation with farmers and activists in the No Go Zones, explores the resistance mobilized by a population deemed surplus and hostile to the Israeli state. It examines the border zones as sites of primitive accumulation, and the political effects of categorizing people as surplus.

India–Israel Defence Engagement: Land Forces’ Cooperation

The Israeli military has been tested through the entire range of conflict from the conventional to the asymmetric since its inception in May 1948 to the present day. In the process, it has become o...

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.

Gaza at the Margins? Legibility and Indeterminacy in the Israel‐Palestine Conflict

Despite prominent attention to the nature of the state in the social sciences, the place of language in creating and maintaining the state remains an emerging area of research. The analysis that follows investigates indeterminacy and illegibility in messages disseminated by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. This analysis highlights the ways in which linguistic indeterminacy is used as a tool by the state in controlling populations at its margins, while investigating the role of language in reproducing the state through the circulation of texts.

The United States and Israel

The United States and Israel

Unintended pregnancies among women serving in the Israeli military

ObjectiveThe objective was to identify the prevalence of and variables associated with unintended pregnancy among young, unmarried women serving in the Israeli military. Study designWe performed a retrospective cohort study of unmarried women drafted by the Israeli military between 2013 and 2015 at the age of 18 years. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine associations between unintended pregnancy and women's education, IQ, immigration status, country of origin, neighborhood socioeconomic status and history of psychiatric illness. ResultsMost women (n=127,262) did not become pregnant while serving in the Israeli military. Unintended pregnancy was reported by 2365, with an additional 6 women reporting pregnancy resulting from sexual assault and 5 an intended pregnancy. Annual rates of unintended pregnancy among young women serving in the Israeli military declined from 1.69% in 2013 to 1.56% in 2014 and 1.33% in 2015. In multivariable models, unintended pregnancy was more common among women soldiers who had not graduated from high school (adjusted relative risk [RR], 5.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.69–6.04) and those who were first-generation immigrants (adjusted RR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.90–2.35). ConclusionUnintended pregnancy is rare among women serving into the Israeli military. ImplicationsIncreasing contraceptive use among women who have not graduated from high school may further reduce rates of unintended pregnancy among women serving in the Israeli military.

A clash-of-civilizations prism in German media? Documenting a shift from political to religious framing of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The impact of political events on media’s conflict coverage prism is widely established. To assess the role of mounting tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe in 2013–2014 on German media’s coverage prism of Muslim-related conflicts, this article compares coverage of the 2008 and 2014 Israeli military operations in Gaza by three major German newspapers. The empirical analysis indicates a dramatic rise in the use of religious terms in 2014, most notably in conservative newspaper Die Welt, and offers evidence of a shift from politics-centered framing of the 2008 Gaza operation to a more religious-centered framing of the 2014 Gaza War. We discuss wider implications of the findings, including their support for the relevance of the clash-of-civilizations theory to contemporary media’s conflict coverage modus operandi.

Settlements in the Supreme Court of Israel

One of the unique features of Israel's legal, military, and political control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) has been the review by the Supreme Court of Israel of the actions and decisions of the authorities in those territories. Sitting as a High Court of Justice that has the competence to review the actions of all persons exercising public functions under law, the Court has entertained thousands of petitions relating to the legality of such varied actions as house demolitions, deportations, land requisition, entry permits, and establishment of settlements. There can be little doubt that the very existence of judicial review has had a restraining effect on the authorities. While the Court has not ruled against the government that often, and has provided legitimization for acts of dubious legality, such as punitive house demolitions and deportations, it has handed down some important rulings on questions of principle. Furthermore, in the shadow of the Court, many petitions have been settled without a court ruling, allowing for a full or partial remedy for the Palestinian petitioner.

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.

Readers Respond

Letter| November 01 2017 Readers Respond Tikkun (2017) 32 (4): 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1215/08879982-4252920 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Readers Respond. Tikkun 1 November 2017; 32 (4): 3–7. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/08879982-4252920 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsTikkun Search Advanced Search A NOTE ON LETTERS TO THE EDITORWe welcome your responses to our articles. Send letters to the editor to letters@tikkun.org. Please remember, however, not to attribute to Tikkun views other than those expressed in our editorials. We email, post, and print many articles with which we have strong disagreements because that is what makes Tikkun a location for a true diversity of ideas. Tikkun reserves the right to edit your letters to fit available space in the magazine.Fantastic issue, I read it cover to cover and passed it along to my sister (to share with members of her congregation). So refreshing to read progressive views. Thank you.— Cheryl J. HallDear Editor,I am sending this in response to your recent issue on the 50th anniversary of the occupation. Below, I describe my recent experience being tear-gassed by the Israeli military, along with a large group... You do not currently have access to this content.

The Ecology of Medical Care Among Israeli Military Aviators.

The ecology of medical care model has been used in various populations with varying results. We aimed to apply this model in the population of Israeli Air Force (IAF) aviators. An anonymous questionnaire was presented to all Israeli Air Force aviators during their mandatory yearly check-up over 1 yr starting on November 26th, 2012. The questionnaire contained items on demographic, personal, and military details, as well as items on the presence of clinical symptoms, and various health care contacts in the previous month. We assessed the differences between career and reserve personnel using a X2 test. There were 325 aviators who completed the questionnaire (2 women, 132 reserves). Clinical symptoms were reported by 62.5% of the responders. Over half (52.6%) had any health care encounter: 23.7% with a dentist, 17.9% with non-MD therapists, 12.6% with a specialist, and 11.7% with a primary physician. A significant difference between reserve and career personnel was found only in primary care visits. Out of the aviators who reported having clinical symptoms, 70.9% did not visit a physician. Of those who did not seek medical care, 42.4% reported that the symptoms were viewed as unimportant, 41% thought they would disappear by themselves, 40.3% could not find time for treatment. Aviators in the IAF have similar rate of clinical symptoms as in other unselected populations. Those who report symptoms usually do not visit a physician for treatment. When they do seek advice it is mostly from non-MD practitioners.Gordon B, Levy Y, Yemini T, Carmon E, Erlich Y, Hermoni D. The ecology of medical care among Israeli military aviators. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(12):1036-1040.

Confidence–Competence Mismatch and Reasons for Failure of Non-Medical Tourniquet Users

Objective: Tourniquet application is a lifesaving skill taught worldwide in first aid bleeding control courses. We observed performance among non-medical users of tourniquets in their confidence, competence, and reasons for failure. Methods: 179 Israeli military recruits without prior medical training underwent their standard first aid course where they learned Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT; Composite Resources, Rock Hill, SC, USA) use. After course completion, they self-reported confidence in tourniquet use. User performance was assessed 7–14 days later using a HapMed™ mannequin that assessed time, pressure, and blood loss. Competent performance required in aggregate: 1) use with pressure of 200 mmHg or more, 2) hemorrhage volume of less than 638 mL, and 3) correct placement of the tourniquet. For failed performance, a reason for failure was reported independently by both the user and an expert observer. Results: 45 of 179 user performances (25%) were competent. Users who reported high confidence had only a slightly higher chance of achieving competence in tourniquet application (r = 0.17, p = 0.022). The most common reason for failure was excess slack in the CAT's strap (experts 55%, users 39%), and too few turns of the windlass (23% and 31%, respectively) was the second most common reason. Expert and user evaluations had poor agreement (κ = 0.44, 95% CI 0.32–0.56). Conclusion: The most common reason for failed use of tourniquets among non-medical users was excess slack in the tourniquet strap. Users self-evaluated their performance inaccurately and demonstrated a confidence-competence mismatch. These pitfalls in performance may help tourniquet instructors improve training of caregivers.

Overshadowed Crisis: The Carter Administration and the Conflict in Southern Lebanon

Building on the recent declassification of several documents in the United States, this analysis examines the policies of the Carter administration and their effects on the conflict in southern Lebanon. During President Jimmy Carter’s efforts to mediate a peace process between Israel and Egypt, Israeli military retaliation against the PLO threatened a conflagration between Israel, Syria and the Palestinians on Lebanese soil. For Carter, the troubles in southern Lebanon were a nuisance to his plans for an Egyptian-Israeli settlement. Thus, he failed to devote sufficient attention to the conflict but rather subordinated it to the need to keep Israelis and Egyptians at the negotiating table.

Spinal epidural abscess with a rapid course in young healthy infantry recruits with multiple skin lacerations

In recent years, there has been high prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection among soldiers in the Israeli military, with devastating sequelae in several cases. Emergency department physicians have developed a high level of suspicion for spinal epidural abscess (SEA) in patients presenting known risk factors; however, SEA is a particularly elusive diagnosis in young healthy adults with no history of drug abuse. We review three cases of SEA secondary to methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) infection in young healthy soldiers without known risk factors. We retrospectively reviewed clinical files of soldiers treated at our Medical Center from 2004–2015 to identify patients diagnosed with SEA. Those aged less than 30years with no history of intravenous drug use, spine surgery or spine trauma were included in the study. Three young army recruits met the inclusion criteria. These young men developed SEA through extension of MSSA infection to proximal skin and soft tissue from impetigo secondary to skin scratches sustained during “basic” training. All presented with mild nuchal rigidity and severe persistent unremitting lancinating radicular pain. Although healthy at baseline, they had a severe, rapidly progressive course. Following urgent surgery, two patients recovered after rehabilitation; one remained with paraparesis at late follow-up. Neurological deficits and systemic evidence of S. aureus infection progressed rapidly in these young healthy SEA patients with no history of drug abuse, emphasizing the critical role of timely MRI, diagnosis, and surgery.

Digital Militarism [Book Reviews

The authors of this book analyze how social media have been used to reinforce the militaristic policies of the Israeli government; they also examine social media usage by individual members of the Israeli military, and by supporters of Israel, within the country and internationally. Focusing their analysis on the years 2008–2014, a time when “…digital militarism moved from the margins of Israeli society to its center,” the authors provide numerous examples of how social media have been utilized to promote a dominant discourse that was pro-militarism, while presenting the occupation as both normal and necessary. Using numerous postings found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, the authors demonstrate how social media in Israel are an essential tool in the ongoing war against the Palestinians. As a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) once acknowledged, “Computers and keyboards are the weapons, Facebook and Twitter are the battlefields. It is there we fight, each and every day.” The authors show how social media serve a number of purposes in this cyber-battle. But despite the authors’ good intentions, the book has some flaws. For one, it is very short — only about 100 pages of content. For another, despite the authors’ assertions that they wanted to do a scholarly study, the tone of the book is often polemical. It is very clear where the sympathies of Kuntsman and Stein lie — they rarely miss an opportunity to criticize Israel, whether locating its origins in “colonial fictions” or minimizing the times that Israel really was under threat from its Arab neighbors. In page after page, one sees Israel at its worst, with little context provided for why the government or its Jewish citizens felt so beleaguered; lacking any information about what the Arab world’s social media were saying, the reader is left with the impression that Israelis are callous and bigoted, and they hate Palestinians for no apparent reason. Thus, while the material in this book may indeed be accurate, the examples may have been compiled in a way that confirms what the authors already believe. That said, there can be no denying that digital militarism exists and is now a real factor in war; nor can it be denied that many governments use social media to inflame and manipulate, or to hide unpleasant truths and shape the discourse.

Synagogue and State in the Israeli Military: A Story of “Inappropriate Integration”

Abstract The encounter between synagogue and state in Israel’s military context raises a variety of complex questions that defy conventional paradigms. While religious liberty continues to occupy a special place in most liberal democratic thought, the legal and philosophical literature pondering its various dimensions has largely lost analytic sight of the fascinating intersection of military and religion. This article embarks on analyzing the appropriate integration between loyalty to God and to country, and between religious male and secular female soldiers. Evaluating examples of synagogue-state tensions and accommodationist policies, this article explores the manner and extent to which the Israeli military (IDF) responds to the observant soldier’s multiple identities as a religious minority member and a faithful citizen of the larger secular polity. Against this backdrop, the article analyzes the vexed challenges posed to multicultural theory by the equivocal status of the Orthodox community as a numerical minority but “power majority” within the military, and by the IDF’s unique exercise of multiculturalist protection, termed herein “external restrictions,” imposed on majority group members. It concludes that the ongoing “religionization” of the IDF through the 2002 “Appropriate Integration” regulation has served as a powerful counterforce to gender equality, fostering a growing practice of female exclusion through which women are disenfranchised from core, non-negotiable protections of citizenship. The article identifies as the prime casualty of this aggressive multicultural accommodation not only secular women’s hard-won equality of opportunity, but also the very rights and status of minority women within their own religious community.

Does a Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions Help in Ending Israel's Military Occupation of Palestinian Territories?

In fact, the defenders of Israel on campus are in deep trouble, not because student well-being is at risk but because the rickety assemblage of distortions and myths used to justify support for Israeli policies can't withstand scholarly scrutiny. Having lost the actual arguments, Israel's defenders have now declared war on argument itself.--Saree Makdisi, 2015 I begin below with a brief personal anecdote that seeks to answer the title's question in the strong affirmative. Ominously, there are efforts currently afoot in the Israeli Knesset and stateside in the U.S. (Salita 2014) to pass a specific law designed to punish any form of boycott by individuals or institutions against Israel. If this materializes, it will place freedom of expression in the public sphere in Israel in severe jeopardy. It also will blacklist many academics outside the country, preventing them from entering Israel, as was the exemplary case with Professor Noam Chomsky, scheduled to lecture at Birzeit University in Ramallah in May 2010, but denied entry. Although Chomsky calls for end of Israeli military occupation of Palestinian lands, he does not believe that a boycott is practical, and urges that efforts must focused more directly on ending the military occupation. In March 2013, I landed at Tel Aviv airport to attend the Diaspora Conference at An-Najah University, Nablus, West Bank. I was told by the conference organizers that transportation for me and other participants had been arranged. I could not rent a car from the airport and drive it through the Palestinian territories due to restrictions by the Israeli rental car companies related to lack of insurance coverage. After waiting for almost two hours at the airport, I was approached by a taxi driver of an Israeli firm who had been hired to drive me to an entry point to the West Bank, near the city of Qalqilya. As we approached the West Bank, he started coordinating my continuing trip to Nablus with another taxi driver coming from opposite direction to meet us on the western side of the Green Line boundary. I crossed the Green Line, entering the West Bank without inspection. Significantly, if I had come from the West Bank, seeking to enter Israel, I would have faced a regimen of strict inspection and questioning by Israeli border guards at the crossing point into Israel. From that point of entry to the West Bank, I continued my trip with the other taxi driver to Nablus. This second taxi had a Palestinian plate number. It would not have been allowed entry into Israel in any case. The grueling trip took almost four hours, crossing less than thirty miles. I am somehow privileged to be able to attend conferences on both sides of the Green Line, due to my Israeli citizenship along with my Canadian passport. The same is true for all Israeli scholars. This is not the case for Palestinian scholars residing in the West Bank or in Gaza Strip. For them, they cannot enter Israel without Israeli military permission, and entry is seldom granted without an exacting intelligent check. Israeli scholars enjoy the privilege of movement across the Israeli-imposed boundary lines inside Palestine/Israel and are able to drive through boundary crossing points smoothly. While Israeli academics have the luxury of organizing conferences inside their universities and do not experience any hassle along their path of producing knowledge, their counterparts in the Palestinian territories continue to endure the nightmare of the Israeli military occupation and in the case of Gaza, horrendous siege. Of course, many Israeli academics wish that Palestinians could come and participate in the Israeli university conferences and academic endeavors, but for their own political reasons and benefit. They expect the Palestinian participant to shut one eye to Israel's occupation of their lands and institutions while keeping the other eye open on what the conference entails. Such views are rarely openly expressed by Israeli academics. …

The inverse of a terror event? Stock market response to pro-active action

Purpose – This paper aims to study and document the effect of counter-terrorism on stock returns. The authors select a sample of pro-active defense operations, performed by the Israeli military and government agencies, with significant media coverage, including leading international channels. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use the event study methodology to assess the effect of each operation on the Israeli equity market. The theoretical background of this work is the recent behavioral literature on anomalies in the formation of asset pricing and in investors’ decision-making. Findings – The authors find generally a statistically significant positive equity market reaction, on average, to prominent successful operations. The initial market response is usually negative and then changes according to the type of event, its specific circumstances and expected ramifications. Originality/value – Unlike the vast prior literature on terror effects, the authors believe that this is the first paper to study the market reaction to prominent counter-terrorism operations.

Incentivized Obedience: How a Gentler Israeli Military Prevents Organized Resistance

ABSTRACTIn this article, I offer an ethnographic examination of neoliberal techniques of control through absence by the Israeli military, the state institution most associated with discipline, indoctrination, and direct coercion. I highlight the ways that the apparent withdrawal of the state from practices of indoctrination and the punishment of conscientious objectors are accompanied by a shift in recruitment and training that emphasizes self‐advancement and social mobility above national and ideological commitments. While in the past the Israeli state and military focused exclusively on shaping self‐sacrificing citizens, today it invests a great deal of its effort in structuring the calculated choices of self‐interested individuals toward favorable outcomes. I explore the uneven but strategic deployment of incentivized governance and consider some of the effects of these techniques for the meaning of engaged citizenship and the politics of state violence in a militarized society. Further, I demonstrate that the lightening of disciplinary sanctions in favor of individual freedom is an effective form of weakening dissent and that it confounds efforts to constitute organized resistance to militarism, leaving activists floundering to find effective ways to express their political concerns.

Politics of Precarious Childhood: Ill Treatment of Palestinian Children under the Israeli Military Order

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the corollaries of the exceptional treatment of Palestinian children under the Israeli military rule. It is shown how the widespread and systematic ill treatment of Palestinian children accrues from exceptional provisions and lack of legal cover of the Israeli military law. Such lack constitutes a precarious condition under which Palestinian children are not treated as children but as a security threat legally accountable for their acts, in many respects with ways similar to adults. Precarity, the paper argues, is produced through three conditions. First, the lack of protection is institutionalised through the legal, territorial and population-regulating techniques internal to state channels. Second, the lack of protection delegates significant power to the discretion of what Judith Butler calls the ‘petty sovereigns’ – to the soldiers, interrogators, police officers, etc., who are asked to rely on their own judgment when making decisions on the fundamental matters regarding the order and justice, even life and death of children. Third, the use of discretionary power is not only encouraged by the legal system and its exceptions; it also works in tandem with the institutional culture of impunity that accepts the violent disciplining, even torture, of Palestinian children.