The Sword And The Olive

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The Sword And The Olive Page 56

by van Creveld, Martin


  57 Y. Luts, “Levanon: Tomche Ha-nesiga Mitchazkim” [Lebanon: The Supporters of Withdrawal Get Stronger], Anashim, January 14, 1997, p. 5.

  58 N. Barnea, “Not the Soldiers but the Parents Need Psychiatric Attention,” Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, June 6, 1997, p. 2.

  CHAPTER 18

  1 The figure for the United States, taking 220 million as its population base, is 1:2,400 per year of the Vietnam War.

  2 Sh. Feldman, “Yachasei Mimshal Regan-Yisrael, Ha-kadentsia Ha-shnia” [The Reagan Administration and Israel, the Second Term], Monograph No. 14 (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center, 1985), pp. 62-65.

  3 S. Flotsker, “Atsmaut Kalkalit, 1986-1996” [Economic Self-Sufficiency, 1986-1996], Yediot Acharonot, December 27, 1996, p. 5.

  4 For details of the Syrian buildup see H. Goodman and W. Seth Carus, The Future Battlefield and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp. 29-36; also M. Heller, ed., The Middle East Military Balance, 1984 (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center, 1984), pp. 209-212.

  5 Cf. Y. Shamir, Sikumo shel Davar [Summing Up] (Tel Aviv: Idanim, 1994), p. 202.

  6 Figures on Israel, Jordan, Egypt, from The Economist, The World in 1997 (London: The Economist, 1996), p. 100; figures on Syria kindly provided by Professor Moshe Maoz, the Hebrew University.

  7 Data from A. Klieman and R. Pedatzur, Rearming Israel: Defense and Procurement Through the 1990s (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991), pp. 59-60.

  8 Flotsker, “Atsmaut Kalkalit,” p. 5.

  9 Yediot Acharonot, November 22, 1996, p. 4.

  10 Figure from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1993 Britannica Book of the Year (Chicago, Ill.: Britannica, 1993), p. 663. U.S. per-capita expenditure during the same year was comparable, but defense only formed 5.8 percent of GNP; ibid., p. 744. The corresponding figures for Germany were 4.9 percent and $544 (ibid., p. 613); for Britain, 4.2 percent and $605 (ibid., p. 740); for France, 3.7 percent and $628 (ibid., p. 608).

  11 Comparison between 1984 and 1994 data based on tables in Sh. Gazit et al., eds., The Middle East Military Balance, 1993-1994 (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center, 1994), p. 498.

  12 In 1984, inclusive of 180 Skyhawks, it stood at 520; in 1994, exclusive of 175 Skyhawks, it stood at 522.

  13 Figures on fertility taken from Government of Israel, Ha-shnaton Ha-statisti [Statistical Yearbook] (Jerusalem: Government Printing Office, 1960, 1974).

  14 As of 1996 17 percent of young males and 30 percent of young females were not drafted; Yediot Acharonot, September 2, 1996, p. 5.

  15 A. Bernheimer, “Profil ’96” [A Profile for 1996], Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, April 19, 1996, p. 16; Israel Women’s Lobby, “Nahsim Ve-sherut Be-TSAHAL: Metsiut, Ratson Ve-chazon” [Women in the IDF: Reality, Will, and Vision] (Tel Aviv University: mimeographed, 1995), p. 10.

  16 Chief of the General Staff Division, Maj. Gen. Matan Vilnai, on Israel Radio, December 26, 1996.

  17 See J. van Doorn, The Soldier and Social Change (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1975), chap. 3.

  18 See above all S. A. Cohen, “The Israel Defense Forces: From a ‘People’s Army’ to a ‘Professional Military,’ Causes and Implications,” Armed Forces and Society 21:2 (Winter 1995): 237-254; also S. Gordon, “Bi-zchut Giyus Barerani” [In Favor of Selective Service], Maarachot 328 (September 1993): 32-37.

  19 Figure of $17,000 from Israel Radio, February 23, 1997; major general’s pay from Yediot Acharonot, October 1, 1997, p. 29. One is reminded of the eighteenth-century tables for the ransoming of prisoners, which valued a private at 4 livres and a Marechal de France at 240,000.

  20 Cf. Maariv, September 11, 1997, p. 14.

  21 In 1996 no fewer than two-thirds of the 8,500 border guards were conscripts: Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, November 21, 1996, p. 6.

  22 Haarets, May 1, 1996, p. 6.

  23 See for the details Y. Gvirts, “Lo Barachnu, Lo Nichnasnu Le-helem” [We Didn’t Run, We Didn’t Go into Shock”], Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, July 19, 1996, pp. 14-15.

  24 Interview with Brigadier General (ret.) Dotan, former chief, CHEN, in I. Jerby, Ha-mechir Ha-kaful: Maamad Ha-isha Ba-chevra Ha-yisraelit Ve-sherut Ha-nashim Be-tsahal [The Double Price: Women’s Status and Military Service in Israel] (Tel Aviv: Ramot, 1996), p. 149.

  25 Lt. Col. Margalit, “Nashim Be-TSAHAL—Mashav She-lo Mutsa” [Women in the IDF—an Underutilized Resource], in Ts. Ofer and A. Kover, eds., Echut mul Kamut [Quality Versus Quantity] (Tel Aviv: Maarachot, 1985), pp. 331-340.

  26 Y. Knoller, “Yalda Yehudiya Lo Sholchim Le-shevi Ha-oyev” [A Jewish Girl Should Not Be Sent to Become a POW], Ha-arets, March 7, 1991, p. 4. In 1978 the total number of MOS was 709.

  27 See table in Jerby, Ha-mechir Ha-kaful, p. 73; also Israel Women’s Lobby, “Nashim Ve-sherut Be-TSAHAL,” p. 19.

  28 Yediot Acharonot, September 13, 1992, p. 26.

  29 Interview with Brig. Gen. Chedva Almog, CO, CHEN, in A. R. Bloom, “Women in the Defense Forces,” in B. Swirski and M. P. Safir, eds., Calling the Equality Bluff: Women in Israel (New York: Pergamon Press, 1991), p. 135; interview with Brig. Gen. Yisraela Oron, CO, CHEN, in Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, August 15, 1997.

  30 Israel’s Women Lobby, “Nashim Ve-sherut Be-TSAHAL,” p. 16.

  31 U. Dayan quoted in S. Cohen and I. Soleyman, “Mi-tsva Ha-am Le-tsava Miktsoi?” [From a People’s Army to a Professional Army?], Maarachot 341 (May-June 1995): 4.

  32 Yediot Acharonot, January 10, 1997, p. 12; O. Petersburg, “Ha-shin gimmel shel Ha-medina Hizhir” [The State’s M.P. Serves Warning], Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, November 15, 1996.

  33 Israel Women’s Lobby, “Nashim Ve-sherut Be-TSAHAL,” pp. 13, 19. However, women still constituted only 2 percent of colonels and brigadier generals; Ha-arets, April 25, 1995, p. 2.

  34 Ch. Almog, “Sherut Ktisnot Be-TSAHAL—Tsipiyot Ve-efsharuyot” [Female Officers’ Service in the IDF—Expectations and Possibilities], Maarachot 317 (October-November 1989): 40-43.

  35 Cf. F. Raday, “Women, Work, and the Law,” in Swirski and Safir, eds., Calling the Equality Bluff, pp. 178-186.

  36 “Achat Esre Ha-muflaot,” Yediot Acharonot, January 10, 1997, p. 12; also, at greater length, R. Shaked, “Achat-Esre Ha-Noazot,” Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, January 10, 1997, pp. 18-19.

  37 Yediot Acharonot, December 13, 1996, p. 7.

  38 S. Peres, Kela David (Jerusalem: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970), p. 258. Note that in 1969 the United States also had the draft.

  39 Higher Education Authority Information Bulletin 8 (August 1996): 8.

  40 Cf. M. van Creveld, The Training of Officers: From Military Professionalism to Irrelevance (New York: Free Press, 1989), pp. 3-4.

  41 D. Ben Gurion, Yichud Ve-yeud: Devarim al Bitchon Yisrael [A Unique Destiny: Notes on Israeli Defense] (Tel Aviv: Maarachot, 1971), p. 305.

  42 Cf. A. Lori, “Toar Akademai Im Kritsa” [A Degree with a Wink], Ha-arets weekend magazine, March 28, 1997, pp. 19-24.

  43 A. Kahalani, A Warrior’s Way (New York: Shaplovsky, 1994), p. 409. At the time Kahalani was commandant of the staff college.

  44 On September 15, 1997, Israel radio announced that the treasury was attempting to dissuade the IDF from implementing the program on grounds of cost.

  45 Cf. M. Janowitz, The Professional Soldier (New York: Free Press, 1971).

  46 Y. Amir, “Bnei Kibbutsim Be-TSAHAL” [Kibbuts Children in the IDF], Megamot 15:2-3 (August 1967): 250-258.

  47 For details about the arrangement see S. Cohen, The Scroll or the Sword? Dilemmas of Religion and Military Service in Israel (Amsterdam: Harwood, 1997), p. 105 ff.

  48 Y. Peri, “Ofyah Ha-idiologi shel Ha-elita Ha-tsvait Ha-yisraelit” [The Ideological Character of Israel’s Military Elite], Medina, Mimshal Ve-yechasim Benleumiyim 6 (Autumn 1974): 146-155.

  49 Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, August 30, 1996, p. 5.

  50 Bitaon Chel Ha-avir 103 (June 1995): 8, and ibid. 109 (June 1996): 12; interview with Brig. Gen. Yair
Nave, chief infantry and parachute officer, Ha-tsofe, September 13, 1996, p. 2

  51 E.g., cf. Dudi Shalom, Ech Ossim Chidush Irguni: Hakamat Mifkedet Chelot Ha-sadeh (MAFCHASH) Be-TSAHAL [The Making of Organizational Innovation: Setting up MAFCHASH] (Tel Aviv: The Institute for Management, 1995), pp. 40-41, 145.

  52 For Dan Shomron’s views on this subject see A. Levite, “Changes of the Guard in Israel,” Armed Forces Journal International (June 1987): 50-51.

  53 Ha-arets, February 7, 1996, p. 1.

  54 Yediot Acharonot, September 7, 1997, p. 1. In fact, since a problem with a glider prevented the lieutenant from reaching the scene on time, the mission was carried out by a senior NCO.

  55 A. Fishman, “Yoter Miday Generalim” [A Surfeit of Generals], Yediot Acharonot weekend magazine, October 6, 1995, pp. 12-13, 26. The existence of a problem is admitted in Brigadier X, “Koach Ha-adam Be-TSAHAL” [IDF Manpower], Maarachot 330 (May-June 1993): 2-4.

  56 D. Kochav, “The Economics of Defense—Israel,” in L. Williams, ed., Military Aspects of the Israeli-Arab Conflict (Tel Aviv: University Publishing Projects, 1975), p. 181.

  57 Fishman, “Yoter Midday Generalim,” p. 13; also Cohen, Towards a New Portrait, p. 109.

  58 Data about the pay of Israeli officers in E. Blanche, “Middle East: Is the Myth Fading for the Israeli Army?” Jane’s Intelligence Review, October 1, 1996.

  59 E. Klein, “Taasiyot Bitchoniyot al Shulchan Ha-nituchim” [Defense Industries on the Operating Table], Yediot Acharonot, August 23, 1994, pp. 10-11.

  60 A. Egozi, “Ech Mochrim ‘Migim’ le-Zambia” [Selling MIGs to Zambia], Yediot Acharonot, November 29, 1996.

  61 The most recent list of Israeli-made missiles is A. Fishman, “Tilim Chachamim Le-lo Shlita” [Smart Missiles Out of Control], Yediot Acharonot, February 28, 1997, pp. 12-13.

  62 Y. Melman, “Ha-shorashim Ha-polaniyim shel Ha-iska Ha-surit” [The Polish Roots of the Syrian Arms Deal], Ha-arets, February 26, 1997, p. B3.

  63 See most recently anonymous, “European Defence,” Worldlink (March-April 1997): 36-42.

  64 See for these developments A. Cordesman, After the Storm: The Changing Military Balance in the Middle East (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), p. 236 ff.

  65 M. Pail, “Tachbulla, Ruach Lechima Ve-technologia” [Tactics, Fighting Spirit, and Technology), in Ofer and Kover, eds., Echut Ve-kamut, pp. 361-372.

  66 Lt. Col. R., “Hearot La-manhigut Ha-technologit shel TSAHAL” [Notes re the IDF’s Technological Leadership], Maarachot 323 (March 1992): 37.

  CHAPTER 19

  1 Cf. e.g., Z. Schiff, “Ha-kavim Ha-adumim shel Sharon” [Sharon’s Red Lines], Haarets , November 22, 1981.

  2 See Z. Eytan, “Ha-iyum Ha-iraqi al Yisrael Acahrei Milchemet Ha-mifrats” [The Iraqi Threat to Israel After the Gulf War], in Jaffee Center, ed., Milchama Ba-mifrats, Hashlachot al-Yisrael [The Gulf War, Implications for Israel] (Tel Aviv: Papyrus, 1991), p. 138, table 1; also A. Cordesman, After the Storm: The Changing Military Balance in the Middle East (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), pp. 457-458.

  3 A good appreciation of the Iraqi performance may be found in A. H. Cordesman, The Gulf and the Search for Strategic Stability (Boulder: Westview Press, 1984), p. 695 ff.

  4 For the exchange see Ha-arets, April 4, 5, and 6, 1990.

  5 Ha-arets, July 6, 1990, p. 1.

  6 E. Karsh, “Regional Strategic Implications of the Iran-Iraq War,” in S. Gazit et al., eds., The Middle East Military Balance, 1988-1989 (Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center, 1989), pp. 106, 109-110.

  7 Foreign Minster Tareq Abd’el Aziz, as quoted in The Washington Post, January 10, 1991.

  8 M. Arens, Milchama Ve-shalom Ba-mizrach Ha-tichon, 1988-1992 [War and Peace in the Middle East, 1988-1992] (Tel Aviv: Yediot Acharonot, 1995), pp. 163-164.

  9 Yediot Acharonot, January 14, 1991, p. 4.

  10 Y. Melman and D. Raviv, Meraglim lo Mushlamim [Imperfect Spies] (Tel Aviv: Maariv, 1990), p. 340; R. Pedatzur, “Milchemet Ha-mifrats, Iyun Bikorti Rishoni” [The Gulf War: A Preliminary Critical Assessment], Maarachot 321 (May-June 1991), p. 11; Y. Harkabi, “Rosh Ha-modiin Ke-ezer La-kvarnit” [The Chief of Intelligence as an Aid to the Decisionmaker], Maarachot 326 (August-September 1992), p. 49.

  11 For these shortcomings see R. Pedatzur, “Milchemet Ha-mifrats,” pp. 9-10.

  12 M. Yaavets as quoted on Israel Radio, January 13, 1991. In fairness it should also be said that Yaavets was the only commentator who foresaw a quick, easy victory over Iraq with hardly any losses for the Coalition.

  13 For the details see J. A. Baker III, The Politics of Diplomacy, Revolution, War, and Peace, 1989-1992 (New York: Putnam’s, 1995), pp. 355-365.

  14 Cf. L. Freedman and E. Karsh, The Gulf Conflict (London: Faber and Faber, 1993), pp. 331-332.

  15 Arens, Milchama Ve-shalom, p. 159. In fact, experience since 1940 has shown that no considerable modern armed force can get away more than 200 or so miles from base without running into serious logistic trouble.

  16 Yediot Acharonot, August 8, 1990, p. 1.

  17 Quoted in Chadashot, February 8, 1991, p. 7.

  18 Arens, Milchama Ve-shalom, pp. 193-214.

  19 According to M. R. Gordon and B. E. Trainor, The General’s War: The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf (Boston: Little, Brown, 1995), p. 238.

  20 I. Linur, Shirat Ha-sirena [The Siren’s Song] (Tel Aviv: Zmora Bitan, 1992), p. 223.

  21 Ts. Gilat, interview with the state comptroller, Yediot Acharonot, January 15, 1993, p. 4.

  22 Yediot Acharonot, February 12, 1991, p. 1.

  23 Cf. R. Werman, Notes from a Sealed Room: An Israeli View of the Gulf War (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991), p. 135.

  24 D. Leshem, “Tilei Karka-Karka Be-Iraq” [Iraqi Surface-to-Surface Missiles], Jaffee Center, Monograph No. 33, November 1990, p. 15.

  25 Figures from Werman, Notes from a Sealed Room, pp. 173-174.

  26 For this debate see R. Pedatzur, “Evolving Ballistic Missile Capabilities and Theater Missile Defense: The Israeli Predicament,” Security Studies 3:3 (1994): 544-545.

  27 Radio Israel, April 8, 1998.

  28 A. Levite, “Lekachim Tsvaiyim Le-yisrael” [Israeli Military Lessons], in Jaffee Center, ed., Milchama Ba-mifrats, p. 142 ff., represents the best discussion.

  29 Private information from a participant who has asked to remain unidentified.

  30 State Comptroller’s Report for 1996, as quoted in Yediot Acharonot, May 8, 1997, p. 2.

  31 Dov Raviv, “father” of the Chets, in Yediot Acharonot, April 19, 1996, pp. 20-21.

  32 In March 1997 one test successfully intercepted the target missile but failed to destroy it as the Chets warhead did not explode; A. Egozi, “Paga Bull” [A Bull’s-Eye Hit], Yediot Acharonot, March 12, 1997, p. 9.

  33 Pedatzur, “Evolving Ballistic Missile Capabilities,” pp. 551-552.

  34 H. Howe, “Suriya Mechina Optsia shel Mahalumat Peta Chimit al Arei Yisrael” [Syria Is Preparing for a Chemical Surprise Attack Against Israel’s Cities], Yediot Achanronot weekend magazine, September 12, 1997, pp. 4-7.

  35 Cf. Y. Evron, Israel’s Nuclear Dilemma (London: Routledge, 1994), p. 211 ff.

  36 On April 7, 1998, Israel TV announced an abortive launch of a Chets II. This failure was the sixth of its kind.

  37 Yediot Acharonot, March 12, 1997, p. 9.

  38 See above all D. Irving, Und Deutschlands Staedte Starben Nicht (Zurich: Schweizer Druck, 1963).

  39 D. Ben Gurion, Yoman Ha-milchama, 1948-1949 [War Diary, 1948-1949] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1982), vol. 2, p. 428, entry for 16.5.48.

  40 Rabin speech to the Forum for Security, Judaism, and Society, Tel Aviv, January 8, 1995.

  CHAPTER 20

  1 For Dayan’s ideas on administering the territories see S. Teveth, Killelat Ha-bracha [The Cursed Blessing] (Jerusalem: Schocken, 1968), p. 64 ff.

  2 A. Sharon, Warrior (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), p. 251 ff.

  3 On the undercover un
its engaged in Gaza see Y. Serena and G. Leshem, “Ha-chisulim Ha-rishonim” [The First Liquidations], Yediot Acharonot, September 26, 1997, pp. 1-12.

  4 Figure from A. Hess, Li-shtot Me-ha-yam shel Aza [Drinking from Gaza’s Sea] (Tel Aviv: Ha-kibbuts Ma-meuchad, 1996), p. 185.

  5 He who killed thirty Muslim worshippers in Hebron before being killed himself.

  6 For the building plan see E. Efrat, Geography and Politics in Israel Since 1967 (London: Cass, 1988), chap. 6.

  7 For this policy cf. M. Palumbo, Imperial Israel (London: Bloomsbury, 1990), pp. 40 ff., 82 ff.

  8 Sharon speech as reported in Yediot Acharonot, June 18, 1982, p. 1.

  9 Compared to 1986 the number of riots had grown by 133 percent, that of tireburnings by 178 percent, that of rock-throwings by 140 percent, and that of roadblocks by 68 percent. The figures, which refer to the Gaza Strip only, are from Z. Schiff and E. Yaari, Intifada [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Schocken, 1990), p. 26.

  10 Quote from Yediot Acharonot special supplement, “Helem-Ha-shtachim” [The Shock of the Territories], January 14, 1988.

  11 Schiff and Yaari, Intifada, p. 73 ff.

  12 Figures from ibid., p. 6.

  13 Figure from Schiff and Yaari, Intifada, p. 274; also Hess, Li-shtot Me-ha-yam shel Aza, p. 354.

  14 A. Ringel Hoffman, “MAGAV Yatsu Sayeret” [The Border Guards as Commandos], Yediot Acharonot, October 4, 1966, pp. 6-10.

  15 Yediot Acharonot, January 15, 1988, p. 4.

  16 Quoted in Yediot Acharonot special supplement, January 14, 1988, p. 4.

  17 M. Begin, The Revolt (New York: Dell, 1977), p. 92.

  18 For this entire episode cf. Schiff and Yaari, Intifada, pp. 18-19.

  19 Quote from chief of staff’s directive on the use of physical force, IDF Chief Education Officer, November 1989, p. 16.

  20 Quoted from Z. Segal, Chofesh Ha-itonut: Ben Mitos Le-metsiut [Freedom of the Press: Between Myth and Reality] (Tel Aviv: Papyrus, 1996), p. 63, n. 24.

  21 On the nature and implications of this case see ibid., p. 75 ff.

 

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