Israel's Failure Research Articles

What Went Wrong? Israeli Misconceptions And the October 2023 Surprise

AbstractThis study examines Israel's failure to prevent Black October, the Hamas invasion that killed more than 1,100 people and sparked the Gaza war. The article synthesizes literatures of security and intelligence to advance three levels at which we must analyze Israel's missteps. The first is the intelligence level, where the state assessed threats. The second is operational, where officials devised military and security solutions, such as relying on technology to police the border with the Gaza Strip. The third level is political‐diplomatic, where the government pursued regional normalization agreements without focusing on solutions to the Palestinian file. Failures at all three levels were intertwined. The examination of these cascading mistakes opens a window into the interactions within and across these levels among military and civilian decision makers, and it suggests how they should be addressed going forward.

Historical Books

Historical Books Thomas Hieke, Richard A. Taylor, Christopher T. Begg, Atilla Bodor, Gerald A. Klingbeil, and Isaac Kalimi Thomas Hieke Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz Richard A. Taylor Dallas Theological Seminary Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Atilla Bodor The Biblicum Gerald A. Klingbeil Andrews University Isaac Kalimi Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz 858. [Prophetic Conflict Narratives in Dtr] Daewook Kim, Prophetic Conflicts in the Deuteronomistic History (BWANT 229; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2021). Pp. 150. €59. ISBN 978-3-17-039993-8. This study is a revised version of K.'s dissertation submitted to Rikkyo University (Shuichi Hasegawa, director). The work explores four narratives regarding prophetic conflict in the Deuteronomistic History (1 Sam 28:3-25; 1 Kgs 12:25–13:34; 1 Kgs 18:16-40; and 1 Kgs 22:1-38). For each pericope, the study proceeds in three steps: first, it examines the narratives according to a synchronic approach ("literary analysis"); second, it discusses the date of the narratives as revised by the Deuteronomists during the Persian period; finally, it considers the religious context and rhetorical purposes of the narratives. The Deuteronomists were interested in the theological questions of the "true Israel," the "true Yhwh," and the "true worship place." The prophetic conflicts reflect the difficulty of distinguishing between true and false prophecy: It seems that the number of false prophets using the name of Yhwh increased during the Persian period. The Deuteronomists sought to rectify the religious situation of the time and were responding to complex problems by using the conflict narrative genre. Their answers to the problem aimed to persuade the postexilic community to protect its ethnic identity, to worship Yhwh alone, and to do so exclusively in Jerusalem. [Adapted from published abstract—T.H.] [End Page 299] Google Scholar 859. [Joshua–2 Kings; Rest] Arie C. Leder, Waiting for the Rest That Still Remains: A Biblical Theology of the Former Prophets (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2021). Pp. xvi + 227. Paper $29. ISBN 978-1-5326-9549-0. In an earlier work (Waiting for the Land: The Storyline of the Pentateuch, 2010), L. traced the biblical narrative from the removal of humans from the garden of Eden to the time of their preparation for entry into the land of promise. In this companion volume, he sets forth a biblical theology of the Former Prophets (i.e., Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings). This theology has two foci: the divine presence and the land of promise, and Israel's failure to appropriate the promised rest from their enemies. The book has ten chapters. Following an introductory chapter that discusses issues of exegetical method and history of interpretation, L. examines the theme of rest in the books of the Former Prophets and the Book of Ruth. He summarizes the main narrative concern of each book, discusses how it relates to the preceding narrative, interacts with themes that modern readers may find especially challenging, develops what he calls the abiding claim of each book, and treats a text from the given book that illustrates that claim. A final chapter considers ways in which God's people in the modern world forfeit the rest God provides, choosing instead to seek alternative pursuits that amount to false altars devoted to other gods. An appendix analyzes the use of "rest" (nwḥ, mnwḥh) in the Book of Genesis.—R.A.T. Google Scholar 860. [Joshua] David G. Firth, Joshua (Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary [EBTC]; Bellingham: WA: Lexham Press, 2021). Pp. xvi + 425. $49.99. ISBN 9781-68359-440-6. F.'s commentary appears in a series that is described on its back cover in these terms: "The Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (EBTC) series locates each biblical book within redemptive history and illuminates its unique theological contributions. All EBTC volumes feature informed exegetical treatment of the biblical book and thorough discussion of its most important theological themes in relation to the canon—all in a style that is useful and accessible to students of Scripture." The commentary proper of F.'s volume is preceded by two extensive sections titled respectively "Introduction" (this addressing such topics as date, authorship, and, purpose, Joshua and the canon, the genre of Joshua...

Review

Review

Public diplomacy in army boots: the chronic failure of Israel’s Hasbara

Israel’s image in the world and its attempts at public diplomacy have always provoked intense discussion and criticism at home and abroad. Through analysis of reports, official documents, and protocols, this article shows how weaknesses in public policymaking undermine the establishment of Israel’s public diplomacy. Israel’s weakness in public policymaking and crisis of governance preclude the possibility of encompassing official measures for an efficient decision-making process, or for long-term strategic planning. This ‘institutional void’ is filled by the IDF, creating a process that causes the ‘security mindset’ to triumph over all other foreign policy factors. The outcome is a less effective Hasbara, which also affects broader diplomatic considerations.

The transformation of the city of Zion: From decadence to justice and prophetic hope (Is. 1:1–2:5)

This article focuses on the story of the transformation of the city called Zion. Isaiah 1:1–2:5 is the key to the book. This chapter describes the failure of Israel to be the people of God: Israel’s covenant breach, a corrupted cult and imminent punishment. It tells of the existence of two groups within Israel: the righteous remnant who would be saved and the wicked who would be judged. This chapter furthermore presents the reader with a picture of decadent Jerusalem whose sacrifices are rejected and whose prayers are no longer accepted. Isaiah 1 contains a warning of judgement against Jerusalem, whereas Isaiah 2:1–5 sketches the prophetic hope for Zion, which would lead to a pilgrimage of the nations to receive the Torah on Zion.

Targeting the biotechnology clusters in North Carolina and Israel: lessons from successful and unsuccessful policy making

This paper analyses the development of biotechnology clusters in North Carolina (NC) and Israel. In both NC and Israel, when the biotechnology was identified as a potential strategic priority, the framework conditions were suitable for successful policy-targeting. NC presents a case of a successful transition from a traditional manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy. The most successful part of this transition was a policy-led development of a biotechnology cluster in the Research Triangle. While Israel also presents a case of a successful transition from a low-tech economy to a knowledge-intensive economy, Israel failed to develop a successful biotechnology cluster. We suggest that this failure is mostly due to a failure to implement policy to encourage such development. We argue that the elements, which separate NC's success from Israel's failure, are: a clear vision and strategic planning; timely response, long-term commitment; strong leadership; cooperation between the government, private sector and academia, and an adjustable policy-making process.

Not so Holy After All

In responses to our paper questioning Israel's great biodiversity, Gavish and Yom-Tov claim that our methods and geographic scope are erroneous, and responsible for our inability to find Israel as diversity hotspot. They maintain that relative to its latitude and realm, Israel is very species-rich. However, our original work corrected for latitude and we highlight the failure of Israel to lie outside the prediction limits of any test in all geographical scopes. We now also analyze richness to test whether realms have parallel slopes in species area curves as Gavish claims and upon which he bases his analysis. We also analyze species richness in the Palearctic realm, calculate prediction limits, and add latitude as a predictor. Moreover, we analyze a new dataset of mammal, bird, and amphibian richness in grid-cells comparing Israeli cell values to the entire world, the Palearctic, and Israel's latitudes. We reject the idea that realms have equal slopes and therefore the Palearctic is not always at a disadvantage compared to other realms. Within the Palearctic realm Israel never lies outside the prediction limits for a country of its area, and adding latitude to this analysis lowered Israel's residual placement. Israel's richness in grid-cells is unexceptional for any taxon at all geographical scopes. In sum, irrespective of the test performed or the geographical region it is compared to, Israel is not a diversity hotspot.

Constructing Security Council Resolution 1701 for Lebanon in the Shadow of the ‘War on Terror’

This article argues that the ‘war on terror’ gave global meaning to the 2006 Israel–Lebanon war and to the construction of UN Security Council resolution 1701 that authorized the deployment of robust UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL). It uses a critical, discursive approach to argue that UN resolutions have embedded in them a particular, powerful discourse, in this case the ‘war on terror’. This discourse grounded a global struggle for and against US domination of the region in a local power dispute in Lebanon between 2004 and 2008. It concludes that Israel's failure to defeat Hizbullah militarily resulted in resolution 1701 comprising two contradictory narratives that represented the battle for and against US domination, and that the subsequent battle for hegemonic articulation of this resolution weakened, rather than strengthened the Lebanese state during 2006–08, plunging Lebanon into internal strife until the signing of a national peace accord in Doha in May 2008.

Israel and the West Bank, 1948–1951

This article accounts for Israel's failure to take the historical opportunity to invade the West Bank during the 1948 war. It also considers the nature of British support for Jordan between 1948 until the death of King Abdullah in 1951. British interests in Transjordan were determined by strategic factors that were outlined in the 1948 Anglo-Transjordan Treaty. Although the British were bound by the treaty to come to Jordan's assistance in the case of an invasion, in practice this would have been very difficult to achieve short of invading Israel from Egypt. This paper argues that the Israelis failed to invade the West Bank in 1948 because they were deterred by the possibility of British intervention and because of divisions within the Israeli political establishment.

Framework and Discourse in the Book of Judges

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) The period of the judges is depicted as a desperate time calling for exceptional leaders. It is a time dominated by conflicts. A lasting peace, almost reached at the end of Joshua, is again far away. The stories of the central figures, the judges, offer a diverse portrayal. There is no image of an ideal judge but several individual characters sharing only one activity: they fight for their people. The judges are presented as heroes, although not without flaws, but they do not achieve sustained success. Hence the book ends with an even stronger desire for exceptional leaders. Most of the stories in Judges 3-16 are linked by a framework presenting them as episodes of Israel's failure to observe Yhwh's covenant, of punishment and rescue. A varying number of recurring elements uphold the schema. In this respect, the framework is more than a loose bond between the stories.1 What makes the framework of Judges special (compared to other biblical frameworks, for example, in the books of Kings) is the preface in Judg 2:11-19. These verses present a distinct perspective on the period of the judges.2 As a preface, it could be read as an introduction to the framework as well as the stories, providing an insight into the correlation between the activities of the people, their failure to observe God's covenant, and an evaluation and reaction by God. When one looks at the stories in Judges through the lens of the theory of Mikhail Bakhtin, the dialogue between different voices becomes obvious. The voice of the introduction with its strong valuation is the first voice to be clearly noticed. Before the stories start, this voice offers an authoritative evaluation of the period of the judges. After the judgmental anticipation, this voice is continued in the framework. In the course of the narrations, the framework forms a prominent voice within the stories of individual judges that starts a dialogue with all the other voices and joins them in a double-voiced discourse. In doing so neither the framework nor the individual stories remain unaffected; rather they have an impact on each other.3 In this process, however, the once authoritative voice loses its explanatory status. The unfolding of the book of Judges can be described as a dialogue4 between the voice of the introduction and the voice of the individual stories. The development of the quarreling voices reaches its climax in the story of Samson, where the interpretation of the introduction, as well as the schema upheld by the framework, dissolves into a carnivalesque presentation of events. I. PREFACE AND FRAMEWORK Continuing the stories about conquering the promised land in the book of Joshua, Judges 1 summarizes the military problems encountered by the Israelites, and, subsequently, Judges 2 offers a religious perspective on this situation.5 Before the stories of the judges unfold, 2:8-10 refers back to the death of Joshua and the people of his generation, contrasting them to the Israelites of the present, who do not know Yhwh anymore. What has been achieved is lost; the community, whose first task it is to bear God, his deeds, laws, and promises in remembrance-as Deuteronomy formulates it-has failed to do so. The retrospect challenges the continuity of the people and their relationship to Yhwh. The question whether Israel will remain loyal to Yhwh, or whether anybody will be able to guide Israel, is raised quite urgently. Judges 2:11-19 presents a short description of the era of the judges evaluated in a strongly negative tenor. The sequence of events corresponds, approximately, to the structure of the individual stories. Some elements of this preface are repeated to frame these stories, connecting the preface and its perspective to the stories of the judges. The Preface (Judges 2:11-19) The focus of the preface is the evaluation of the whole period,6 and God's point of view is used as an authoritative perspective to sum up the era. …

Comfort for Jerusalem: The Second Isaiah as Counselor to Refugees

Analogies exist between psychological problems faced by contemporary populations of displaced persons (e.g., refugees) and those exiled by the Babylonian empire after the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem. The second-generation survivors of the Babylonian deportations inherited a shaming identity as defeated Israel, rejected by God. This traumatizing story was conveyed and reinforced by liturgies of lament. At the same time, the failure of Israel's laments to effect change led to a perception of unanswered prayer by a powerless or absent deity which further demoralized them. Their discouragement produced symptoms of the psychological harm called learned helplessness. The approach of the prophet who composed the poems and oracles found in Isaiah 40—55 is similar to some contemporary therapies. Through various genres of poetry, the Second Isaiah counseled the exiles to reframe their pessimism about Israel, YHWH, and their future.

Israeli self-defeating deterrence in the 1991 Gulf War

Israel's failure in deterring Iraq from launching missiles on its home front in the 1991 Gulf War demonstrates the failure of deterrence theory to capture the dynamic of deterrences in ‘complex systems’. In such conflictual systems the recipe for successful deterrence – rational actors, credible and clear deterrence threats, and a defender that has a reputation for realizing his threats – may fail to acheive the expected outcome. Moreover, the credibility of the deterrer may be the reason for the collapse of deterrence. Evidence from the post-Cold War era suggests high prospects for the recurring of complex deterrence systems and thus reinforces the importance of this case.

1 and 2 Chronicles. Vol. 2, 2 Chronicles 10-36: Guilt and Atonement

I 2 Chronicles. Vol. 1, 1 Chronicles 1-2 Chronicles 9: Israel's Place Among Nations, by William Johnstone. JSOTSup 253. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. Pp. 411. N.P. 1 2 Chronicles. Vol. 2, 2 Chronicles 10-36: Guilt Atonement, by William Johnstone. JSOTSup 254. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. Pp. 300. N.P. Given explosion of academic study of biblical text, classical critical philological commentaries have tended to become scribal affairs. Unless commentator is extremely diligent, contemporary scholarship, rather than biblical text itself, becomes main dialogue partner for commentator-and reader of commentary. The length of commentaries grows, yet biblical text itself becomes a more distant voice, submerged beneath cacophony of contemporary discussions. William Johnstone seeks to avoid this dilemma is his 700 plus page commentary on 1 2 Chronicles by selectively engaging contemporary scholarship essentially forgoing a scholarly apparatus as he presents his reading of Chronicles to his audience. Yet his intent is not to present a postmodern exercise in ideology of reading; Johnstone seeks to write the inductive description of material in work itself, written with as few preconceptions as possible about what theme or themes may turn out to (vol. 1, p. 377). He methodically utilizes a concordance to trace use of language within Chronicles rest of Hebrew Bible, especially Leviticus, to construct message of text, while comparing Chronicles to its Vorlage in Samuel-Kings. Johnstone helpfully summarizes his basic reading of Chronicles in introductions to each volume (vol. 1, pp. 9-23; vol. 2, pp. 9-20). The bulk of commentary develops general hypothesis that historiographic genre of Chronicles masks its deeper function as a theological work related to midrash, written for the edification of community (vol. 1, p. 23). According to Johnstone, in 1 Chronicles 1-9, Chronicler spells out universal of God humanity, how Israel finds its place amidst nations in response to breakdown of this relationship. 1 Chronicles 10-2 Chronicles 9 presents Israel attempting to achieve its ideal amidst nations, sacramentally representing sovereignty of God amidst nations through Davidic dynasty. Yet even here, failure is seen on horizon. As a consequence, 2 Chronicles 10-36 engages exilic situation of Chronicler's original audience to understand Israel's failure and to look beyond it to conditions for eventual recognition of God's sovereignty on earth, which will solve problem of relationship betwen God human with which work began (vol. 2, p. 11). The Chronicler thus subordinates Jerusalemite royal tradition to levitical theology of Temple its rites in anticipation of eschatological fulfillment of God's sacramental sovereignty exercised over all creation. Despite Johnstone's claim to investigate inductively Chronicles with minimal presuppositions, his reading operates with a very strong, conservative, questionable MT bias. Indeed, he produces a commentary on MT of Chronicles, confusing it with its textual predecessors. Johnstone consistently works with MT paragraphing as significant to his interpretation; textual criticism in work is basically nonexistent-the MT as textus receptus is judged to be historically superior. More seriously, he rejects Qumran textual evidence for Vorlage of Chronicles in his redactional comments, arguing that the reader is presented with two given texts-Samuel-Kings C-and these two texts will endure as received texts for interpretation. …

The Delay of Salvation Within Deutero-Isaiah

The main theme of Isaiah 40–55, so-called Deutero-Isaiah, is that Yahweh will grant forgiveness and deliverance to his people in order to provide a new beginning. In time, however, it became apparent that the salvation proclaimed by the prophet had not materialized. In response to a growing unease, therefore, the adherents of Deutero-Isaiah offered a reassurance to the people that salvation was imminent. In later days, however, a new explanation was offered for the fact that the prophetic pronouncement remained unfulfilled—the delay of salvation was blamed on the people of Israel's guilt. In order to explain the failure of Israel, and the subsequent withholding of Yahweh's salvation, the adherents of Deutero-Isaiah borrowed parts of the Deuteronomistic scheme concerning the history of Israel. By making observations on the tradition-historical connections in Isaiah 40–55, traces of Deuteronomistic theology in Deutero-Isaiah can be found. Further, it is also possible to draw some general conclusions about the relationship between the Deutero-Isaiah (respectively Isaian) school and the Deuteronomistic movement.

Nasser's Decision-Making in the 1967 Middle East Crisis: A Rational-Choice Explanation

Nasser's behavior in the 1967 Middle East crisis has been variously explained in terms of decision-making deficiencies, personality-related pathologies, and uncontrolled escalation. This paper argues that such accounts are unsatisfactory. They are biased by their use of backward induction, which infers from Nasser's ultimate failure an inevitability to the escalation of the crisis. This inference puts a premium on the evaluation of decisions, rather than on their explanation. It is also inconsistent with Nasser's actual behavior toward the end of the crisis, which strongly suggests an attempt at deescalation. The paper offers an alternative, rational-choice explanation of the crisis. It argues that when the focus of inquiry is shifted from Nasser's failure to his objectives and perception of the strategic context, the crisis decisions of the Egyptian leader can be shown to have been consistent with strategic rationality. Moreover, Nasser's failure was the result not of personality or cognitive deficiencies but rather of Israel's failure to communicate the threshold beyond which she would be compelled to attack. This conclusion underscores the importance of signaling limits to an opponent's escalation so as to facilitate the opponent's learning in crisis.

Ben‐Gurion and Sharett: conflict management and great power constraints in Israeli Foreign Policy

Ever since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, its decision-makers have been fully aware of the impact of the international system on the ArabIsraeli conflict. Interests of external powers in the Middle East had to be taken into consideration in the formation of Israel's foreign policy. During the War of Independence the threat of British intervention on behalf of the Arab states was seriously contemplated, and a decision made to exercise self-restraint in order to avoid military confrontation.' David Ben-Gurion, Israel's Premier and Minister of Defense, was convinced that Israel must not provoke the intervention of a great power by means of its military action. While Israel had no other alternative but to fight the Arabs, war with a great power was far from inevitable.2 The question of external constraints in Israel's foreign and defense policy was rendered more acute in the early 1 950s, following the military deterioration along the armistice lines. This was aggravated by the failure of Israel's preliminary effort to obtain arms and security guarantees. The interrelationship between conflict management and consideration of great-power constraints produced two distinct schools of thought among Israel's decision maker in the early 1950s. Ben-Gurion espoused a hawkish and activist approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict, while minimizing the prominence of external constraints. Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett represented a doveish and more restrained line of conflict management, attributing great importance to foreign powers, the United Nations and international public opinion.3 This study aims to examine the emergence of these two approaches to management of the Arab-Israeli conflict, while analysing the actual impact of external constraints on Israel's foreign and defense policy between 1954 and 1956. It is argued that had the United States better understood Israel's defense problems, providing it with arms and security guarantees, it could have exercised greater influence over its foreign policy. Possibly the downfall of Sharett, the establishment of the Franco-Israeli alliance and even the 1956 war might have been prevented.