The Role of the Army în Israel

On May 14th, 1948, the formation of the state of Israel was announced by its first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. However, the situation in this region of the Middle East was more than complicated and the appearance of the new state was one of the events that would lead to further controversies and conflicts. An important role in the evolution of the situation of both Israel as a unity and of international relations was played by the army of this state.

First of all, the existence of the state did not mean that a national unity existed, the status of the populations of Israel being one of the most problematic ethnic issues in modern history. When it came to the authorities, after establishing the state, they recognized the need to create the nation , which would be done similarly to the processes that had been undergone by many European states.

These had used means such as the school system, the media, the army – only in their cases the whole evolution had been a long one, which in the case of Israel was not seen as a possibility. Threats from the outside as well as from within demanded a strong state and one which would have its people believing in unity. Thus, arguably the most advantageous solution was seen as the emphasis put on the Jewish national army.

There are many analyses that – drawing conclusions from the direction Israel went regarding its army – evaluate what results have been reached and what transformations the society has suffered. The two main views found in some of the most important works on this subject are that Israel is a “nation-in-arms” and that the regime is fit to be labeled as a “military democracy” . The definitions of these terms relate to the role that the army has had for the state of Israel.

Beginnings

The region of the Middle East is today a crucial area in the shaping of international relations. There have been, in the last half of the 20th century, events that brought its many problems to worldwide attention. The conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinian population on its territory has gone through many phases and is a difficult one to end, although more recently the situation appears to be heading in the right direction . Conflict, here, as defined in specialized works , is firstly about competing for the resources, especially when these are scarce, and the solutions are political resolution and/or armed response.

The Israeli army has been an important mean through which this was to be done, however, it had, first and foremost, as the main purpose to help the absorption of the immigrant Jewish groups that came from all over the world and needed to acquire a national identity . Although Zionism had existed officially since the end of the 19th century, when Israel appeared as a state it had to use its institutions in the process of uniting the Jews that came from various backgrounds – and it had many problems while trying to do so .

The example of what a nation-in-arms could be has been offered by such European states as France or by Japan and in this direction Israeli authorities headed but with the express goal of legitimizing their existence and involving all those that were to become a part of the nation. This ‘project’ was part of the principle of action – statism – that sought to concentrate the power in the hands of the main authority. In order to accomplish this, they had to prevent the military class from gaining too much influence in politics or at least not so much that it could become too powerful.