Bulletin: Military and Soldiers

Articles

• Ben-Shalom, Uzi, and Yizhaq Benbenisty. “Coping Styles and Combat Motivation During Operations. An IDF Case Study.” Armed Forces and Society 42.4 (2016): 655-74.
• Lebel, Udi. “The ‘Immunized Integration’ of Religious-Zionists within Israeli Society: The Pre-Military Academy as an Institutional Model.” Social Identities 22.6 (2016): 642-60.
• Lomsky-Feder, Edna, and Orna Sasson-Levy. “The Effects of Military Service on Women’s Lives from the Narrative Perspective.” In Researching the Military (Cass Military Studies; ed. Helena Carrieras, Celso Castro, and Sabina Frederic; Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2016): 94ff.
• Rosman, Elisheva. “Toward a Classification of Managing Religious Diversity in the Ranks. The Case of the Turkish and Israeli Armed Forces.” Armed Forces and Society 42.4 (2016): 675-95.
• Shelef, Leah, Evyatar Ayzen, Nirit Yavnai, Eyal Fruchter, and Orly Sarid. “The Contribution of the Socio-Demographic Characteristics on Suicidal Ideation among Israeli Soldiers.” Disaster and Military Medicine 2.5 (2016).
• Simonetti, Ilaria. “Women’s Violence and Gender Relations in the Israeli Defence Forces.” In Gender and Conflict: Embodiments, Discourses and Symbolic Practices (ed. Georg Frerks, Annelou Ypeij, and Reinhilde Sotiria König; London and New York: Routledge, 2016): 67-90.

Bulletin: Religion in Israel

Books:

• Sharaby, Rachel. The Revival of a Tradition. Seharane Celebrations in Israel (Tel Aviv: Resling, 2016; in Hebrew).
• Hakak, Yohai. Haredi Masculinities between the Yeshiva, the Army, Work and Politics: The Sage, the Warrior and the Entrepreneur (Leiden: Brill, 2016).

Articles:

• Engelberg, Ari. “Religious Zionist Singles: Caught Between ‘Family Values’ and ‘Young Adulthood’.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 55.2 (2016): 349-64.
• Shoham, Hizky. “‘He had a Ceremony—I had a Party’: Bar Mitzvah Ceremonies vs. Bat Mitzvah Parties in Israeli Culture.” Modern Judaism 36.3 (2016): 335-356.
• Levy, John. “Freedom and Authority in Israel.” In Freedom and Authority in Religions and Religious Education (ed. Brian Gates; London and New York: Bloomsbury, 1996, reprinted 2016), 86-94.
• Uzan, Elad. “From Social Norm to Legal Claim: How American Orthodox Feminism Changed Orthodoxy in Israel.” Modern Judaism 36.2 (2016): 144-62.
• Shilon, Avi. “Menachem Begin’s Attitude toward the Jewish Religion.” Middle East Journal 70.2 (2016): 249-74.
• Levy, Yagil. “Religious Authorities in the Military and Civilian Control. The Case of the Israeli Defense Forces.” Politics & Society 44.2 (2016): 305-32.

Reviews:

• Waldron, Mary Ann. Review of: René Provost, ed. Mapping the Legal Boundaries of Belonging: Religion and Multiculturalism from Israel to Canada (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014). Journal of Church and State, 2016 (online first).
• Ward, Ian. Review of: Jacques Berlinerblau, Sarah Fainberg, and Aurora Nou, eds. Secularism on the Edge: Rethinking Church-State Relations in the United States, France, and Israel (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). Journal of Church and State, 2016 (online first).
• Greenberg, Yoel. Review of: Raffi Ben-Moshe, Experiencing Devekut: The Contemplative Niggun of Habad in Israel (trans. Jonathan Chipman; Jeursalem: Jewish Music Research Center, 2015). Notes 73.1 (2016): 120-122.

 

New Article: Watkins & James, The Sophisticated Tunneling Network of Hamas

Watkins, Nicole J., and Alena M. James. “Digging Into Israel: The Sophisticated Tunneling Network of Hamas.” Journal of Strategic Security 9.1 (2016): 84-103.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.9.1.1508

 

Abstract

By the end of Operation Protective Edge in August 2014, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) claimed to have discovered and destroyed more than 30 tunnels spanning from beneath Gaza into Israeli territory. Hamas officials have praised these tunnels as an innovative approach to fighting an asymmetric war with a far more conventionally powerful Israel. The purpose of this case study is to examine the complexity of Hamas’ vast tunneling network by assessing the motivations behind the group’s decision to construct the network, to identify the factors that enabled Hamas to engage in such a complex engineering task, and to assess the level of effectiveness of the tunnel network both strategically and tactically against the IDF.

 

 

 

New Article: Rosman, Toward a Classification of Managing Religious Diversity in the Ranks

Rosman, Elisheva. ” Toward a Classification of Managing Religious Diversity in the Ranks. The Case of the Turkish and Israeli Armed Forces”. Armed Forces & Society (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0095327X15613580

 
Abstract

Military establishments view religious soldiers with mixed feelings and must contend with the specific dilemmas these soldiers present. This article suggests what might influence the managing of religious diversity in the ranks, using the idea of dimensions of isolation. The more removed a military is from society, the more likely it is to utilize internal mechanisms when dealing with religious soldiers. The less removed it is from society, the more likely it will be to turn to external mediating mechanisms in this regard. Using three dimensions of isolation (physical, temporal, and psychological), this article discusses the treatment of religious troops in the Israeli and Turkish cases. After exploring what can be learned from these cases regarding the accommodation of religious soldiers, the article concludes with some suggestions for future research.

 

 

 

Conference: AJS Program Book now online (Boston, Dec 13-15, 2015)

The 47th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies will take place in Boston, December 13-15, 2015.

The full program is now available on the AJS website: http://www.ajsnet.org/conference-menu.htm

You may also download the program here: PDF

 

 

Dissertation: Wooten, Gender Integration into the Military

Wooten, Jeff. Gender Integration into the Military: A Meta-Analysis of Norway, Canada, Israel, and the United States, EdD Dissertation, University of New England, 2015.
 
URL: http://dune.une.edu/theses/33/
 
Abstract

Over the past 15 years, the Global War on Terrorism has necessitated an examination of the military’s practices and the way that they meet the complexities of new and different types of war and tactics. Vital to this examination are policies related to the inclusion and deployment of women in combat. Burba stated war is not a setting for social testing, but the American Military must embrace the social subtleties of gender differences in an effort to meet the Armed Services requirement for an ever-changing asymmetrical battlefield. This study compares and contrasts the American current policy divergent to three other countries’ policies that have successfully integrated women into combat: Norway, Canada, and Israel. Through this examination, an opportunity to recognize gaps in training and procedural information that are most important to the successful implementation in the United States is revealed. The scientific data, although supporting the fact that physiological differences exist between men and women, were not supported in the argument that all women should be excluded from combat units. In all case studies, it was found that women who volunteered for combat assignments performed equally as well as their male counterparts without degradation of operational readiness or a lower unity of cohesion. However, I was not surprised that the leaders of the three counties observed that the successful integration of women into combat units is not about changing a culture. It is simply a leadership issue.

 

 

New Article: Rosman-Stollman, Religious Accommodation as a Civil-Military Looking Glass

Rosman-Stollman, Elisheva. “Religious Accommodation as a Civil-Military Looking Glass: The Case of the Indian and Israeli Armed Forces.” Journal of Church and State (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jcs/csv001

 

Excerpt
Military establishments view religious soldiers with mixed feelings. On the one hand, they can be seen as a fifth column: Will such soldiers follow orders should these orders clash with religious obligations? Aside from considering these soldiers ideologically, militaries must deal with them on a practical level (accommodating—or not—religious commandments, such as wearing clothing conforming to religious requirements, observing dietary laws). They must also consider how relevant religious observance is to the role of being a soldier: Is it conducive? Detrimental? Perhaps it has no impact? These problems become more acute particularly in military systems that have no official religious affiliation but conscript religious soldiers.

There are many ways to deal with these soldiers. Is there a way of predicting which kind of military will utilize what kind of treatment mode toward its religious members? This article suggests a possible theoretical construct regarding what might influence the managing of religious diversity in the ranks. The more removed a military is from society, the more likely it is to utilize internal mechanisms when dealing with religious soldiers. The less removed it is from society, the more likely it will be to turn to external—even civilian—mediating mechanisms in this regard.

 

 

New Article: Marcus, Military Innovation and Tactical Adaptation in the Israel–Hizballah Conflict

Marcus, Raphael D. “Military Innovation and Tactical Adaptation in the Israel–Hizballah Conflict: The Institutionalization of Lesson-Learning in the IDF.” Journal of Strategic Studies 38.4 (2015): 500-28.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2014.923767

 

Abstract

This article highlights a pattern of military adaptation and tactical problem-solving utilized by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) while engaged in protracted conflict with the Lebanese militant group Hizballah. It discusses the IDF’s recent attempts to institutionalize their historically intuitive process of ad-hoc learning by developing a formal tactical-level mechanism for ‘knowledge management’. The diffusion of this battlefield lesson-learning system that originated at lower-levels of the organization is examined, as well as its implementation and effectiveness during the 2006 Lebanon War. A nuanced analysis of IDF adaptation illustrates the dynamic interplay between both ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ processes of military innovation.

 

New Article: Shelef et al, Characteristics of Soldiers with Self-Harm in the IDF

Shelef, Leah Eyal Fruchter, Dror Ortasse Spiegel, Gal Shoval, J. John Mann, and Gil Zalsma. “Characteristics of Soldiers with Self-Harm in the Israeli Defense Forces.” Archives of Suicide Research 18.4 (2014): 410-418.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13811118.2013.845121

 

Abstract

Suicide is the leading cause of soldier death in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in peace time. Suicide attempt (SA) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are risk factors for death by suicide in civilian studies and therefore their predictive value needs to be determined in the military. All army screening, psychometric and demographic data on consecutive cases of IDF soldier self-harm during the years 2010–2011 were analyzed. The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale was used retrospectively to classify self-harm as suicidal or NSSI. The Suicide Ideation Scale and the Suicide Intent Scale were scored retrospectively by trained clinical psychologists. A total of 107 soldiers reported self-harm during the study period, comprising 70 SA and 37 with NSSI. The most prevalent diagnosis was personality disorder (n = 48). Soldiers with any mood/anxiety disorders comprised the smallest group (n = 21) and included major depression, dysthymia, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Soldiers with NSSI (n = 37) did not differ in any of the characteristics from those who attempted suicide (n = 70). Unlike the well-known female dominance in both SA and NSSI patients in other settings, males dominated this army sample in both groups. Soldiers with self-harm (both SA and NSSI) cannot be easily distinguished by any demographics or specific psychological attributes detectable at induction, and the scales used in suicide research cannot predict an attempt or NSSI. Unlike civilian samples, males dominated attempter and NSSI groups and the reason for this may be multifactorial. These retrospective findings, if replicated, indicate the need for different screening strategies at induction into the military.

New Article: Marten, Patronage Politics, International Influence, and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces

Marten, Kimberly. “Reformed or Deformed? Patronage Politics, International Influence, and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces.” International Peacekeeping 21.2 (2014): 181-97.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13533312.2014.910404

 

Abstract

A great deal of international attention and funding was given to reform and training of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF), starting with the Oslo Accords process in 1993 and accelerating with the advent of Fayyadism and the expulsion of the Palestinian Authority government from Gaza in 2007. Many donors and other supporters in the US, the EU, and Israel claimed this process as a success story, and indeed from 2008–2010 local conditions looked hopeful in the fragile, post-conflict West Bank proto-state. But soon unresolved political conflicts inside the West Bank encouraged patronage-based violence to reemerge within the security forces, and the fractured approach of the international community aggravated the situation. By 2013 reform had stalled. This article explores the history of patronage politics in the PASF and uses the Palestinian example to highlight the tensions inherent in contested visions of security, when international donors define success in terms of anti-terrorism rather than genuine domestic security governance.

New Book: Fuchs, Israeli Feminist Scholarship

Fuchs, Esther, ed. Israeli Feminist Scholarship. Gender, Zionism, and Difference. Austin, TX : University of Texas Press, 2014.

More than a dozen scholars give voice to cutting-edge postcolonial trends (from ecofeminism to gender identity in family life) that question traditional approaches to Zionism while highlighting nationalism as the core issue of Israeli feminist scholarship today.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction. Israeli Feminist Scholarship: Gender, Zionism, and Difference

Esther Fuchs

Chapter One. The Evolution of Critical Paradigms in Israeli Feminist Scholarship: A Theoretical Model

Esther Fuchs

Chapter Two. Politicizing Masculinities: Shahada and Haganah

Sheila H. Katz

Chapter Three. The Double or Multiple Image of the New Hebrew Woman

Margalit Shilo

Chapter Four. The Heroism of Hannah Senesz: An Exercise in Creating Collective National Memory in the State of Israel

Judith T. Baumel

Chapter Five. The Feminisation of Stigma in the Relationship Between Israelis and Shoah Survivors

Ronit Lentin

Chapter Six. Gendering Military Service in the Israel Defense Forces

Dafna N. Izraeli

Chapter Seven. The Halachic Trap: Marriage and Family Life

Ruth Halperin-Kaddari

Chapter Eight. Motherhood as a National Mission: The Construction of Womanhood in the Legal Discourse in Israel

Nitza Berkovitch

Chapter Nine. No Home at Home: Women’s Fiction vs. Zionist Practice

Yaffah Berlovitz

Chapter Ten. Wasteland Revisited: An Ecofeminist Strategy

Hannah Naveh

Chapter Eleven. Tensions in Israeli Feminism: The Mizrahi-Ashkenazi Rift

Henriette Dahan-Kalev

Chapter Twelve. Scholarship, Identity, and Power: Mizrahi Women in Israel

Pnina Motzafi-Haller

Chapter Thirteen. Reexamining Femicide: Breaking the Silence and Crossing “Scientific” Borders

Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian

Chapter Fourteen. The Construction of Lesbianism as Nonissue in Israel

Erella Shadmi

Chapter Fifteen. From Gender to Genders: Feminists Read Women’s Locations in Israeli Society

Hanna Herzog

Acknowledgments

Contributors

Index

 

Purchase from publisher: https://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/fucisr

New Article: Holt, U.S.–Israel Military Relations

Holt, Blaine D. “The Gold Standard: U.S.–Israel Military Relations.” American Foreign Policy Interests 36.2 (2014): 111-118.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10803920.2014.905366

 

Abstract

There is no more cohesive military-to-military relationship than the one cultivated, over many years, by the United States and Israel. What began with a trickle after America’s official recognition of the Jewish state in 1948 stands today as a deeply integrated and highly capable enmeshment of forces; in addition, the two nations have enviable industrial might, bolstering the two defense establishments that support their respective militaries. Regional security and relative stability as well as game-changing technologies are some of the important products that support the vital interests of both countries. Although many strategic factors that underpin the relationship are in flux, the military relationship remains strong and is well-positioned to be advanced to the next level with careful policy choices now.

Reviews: McGahern, Palestinian Christians in Israel

Reviews of: McGahern, Una. Palestinian Christians in Israel. State Attitudes towards Non-Muslims in a Jewish State. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2011.

 

 

Reviews:

• Cardaun, Sarah. “Review.” Journal of International and Global Relations 3.2 (2012): 151-153.
• Ben-Porat, Guy. ”Review.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 36.2 (2013): 379-380.
• Jones, Clive. “Review.” Middle Eastern Studies 50.2 (2014): 346-349.

 

 

 

 

New Article: Kober, Israel’s Way of War in Asymmetrical Conflicts

Kober, Avi. “From Heroic to Postheroic Warfare: Israel’s Way of War in Asymmetrical Conflicts.” Armed Forces & Society (online first)

URL: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/08/01/0095327X13498224.abstract

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X13498224

 

Abstract

Since the late 1970s Israel has been operating postheroically, with postheroic behavior gradually becoming an integral part of its strategic culture and way of war, and often coming at the expense of mission fulfillment. In the Israeli case, the strongest explanation for such behavior has been the marriage of two factors: Israel’s engagement in low-intensity conflicts (LICs), which have not threatened its basic security, let alone its existence, and sophisticated technology, which has played a significant facilitating role in applying postheroic warfare. Sparing the lives of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF’s) own troops and of enemy civilians helped gaining greater domestic and legitimacy, as well as greater sustainability in LICs. On the other hand, living up to postheroic warfare’s rules had a price not only in terms of fulfilling the military missions, but also in terms of sensitivity to unexpected, sometimes sudden leaps in casualties and/or collateral damage; the danger of lowering the threshold war; and asymmetry with enemies that do not cooperate with postheroic rules and rather fight heroically. The analysis of the Israeli case covers the LIC events Israel has been engaged in from the 1978 Operation Litani, in which postheroic warfare was detected for the same time, to the more recent 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense.

Reviews: Levy, Israel’s Death Hierarchy

Levy, Yagil. Israel’s Death Hierarchy. Casualty Aversion in a Militarized Democracy. New York: NYU Press, 2012.

 

Reviews

• Lassen, Amos. “Making the Ultimate Decision.” Reviews by Amos Lassen. November 5, 2012.
• Moore, Will H. “Civilian Casualties, Democracy & Wealthy Countries.” Political Violence @ a Glance, Novemebr 5, 2012.
• Kober, Avi. “Israel’s Death Hierarchy.” Fathom. January 31, 2013.
• Benjamin, David. “Review.” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 7.2 (2013): 143-146.
• Lachmann, Richard. “Review.” Contemporary Sociology 43.2 (2014): 229-230.

New Article: Levy, Theocratization of the Israeli Military

Levy, Yagil. “The Theocratization of the Israeli Military.” Armed Forces & Society 40.2 (2014): 269-94.

 

URL: afs.sagepub.com/content/40/2/269.abstract

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X12466071

 

Abstract

This article portrays the theocratization of the Israeli military. At the center of this process stands the national-religious sector, which has significantly upgraded its presence in the ranks since the late 1970s. It is argued that four integrated and cumulative processes gradually generated this shift toward the theocratization of the Israeli military: (1) the crafting of institutional arrangements that enable the service of religious soldiers, thereby (2) creating a critical mass of religious soldiers in many combat units, consequently (3) restricting the military command’s intraorganizational autonomy vis-à-vis the religious sector, and paving the road to (4) restricting the Israel Defense Forces autonomy in deploying forces in politically disputable missions.

Reviews: Bar-On, Moshe Dayan. Israel’s Controversial Hero

Bar-On, Mordechai. Moshe Dayan. Israel’s Controversial Hero. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

Reviews

• n/a. “Review.” Kirkus Reviews 80.10 (2012): 1028.
• Arkush, Allan. “Day Four: ‘Attack! Attack!’.” Jewish Ideas Daily, June 8, 2012.
• Daisley, Stephen. “Dayan’s Lesson.” Stantpoint July/August 2012.
• Hastings, Max. “Review.” Sunday Times, August 12, 2012.
• Bregman, Ahron. “Moshe Dayan: From Bed to Battlefield.” TheJC.com, August 23, 2012.
• Rubin, Martin. “Book Review.” Washington Times, September 21, 2012.
• Green, David B. “A New Look at the Life and Times of Moshe Dayan.” Haaretz, October 29, 2012.
• Shindler, Colin. “Review.” Jewish Renaissance, January 2013.
• Jones, Clive. “Review.” Middle Eastern Studies 49.3 (2013): 503-506.

ToC: Israel Affairs 19,2 (2013)

Israel Affairs, Vol. 19, No. 2, 01 Apr 2013 is now available on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Original Articles Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran Rusi Jaspal Pages: 231-258 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778085   In defence of the idea of a Jewish state Mordechai Nisan Pages: 259-272 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778088 : 273-289 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778089   The status of Arabic in the discourse of Israeli policymakers Dafna Yitzhaki Pages: 290-305 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778091   Oversight by the State Control Committee in the Israeli parliament: form of accountability under stress Chen Friedberg Pages: 306-320 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778083   Israeli stamps 1948–2010: between nationalism and cosmopolitanism Einat Lachover & Dalia Gavriely Nuri Pages: 321-337 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778086   Advertising as a semiotic system of space: image of the desert in Israeli advertising, 1967–2004 Avivit Agam Dali Pages: 338-352 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778082   The transformation of the Israeli Civil Guard into a police force Yaffa Moskovich Pages: 353-363 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778087   Between self-interest and international norms: legitimizing the PLO Ogen S. Goldman Pages: 364-378 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778084     Book Reviews   Sharon: the life of a leader David Rodman Pages: 379-380 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778092   A lasting reward: memoirs of an Israeli diplomat David Rodman Pages: 380-381 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778093 The horsemen of Israel: horses and chariotry in monarchic Israel (ninth-eighth centuries BCE) David Rodman Pages: 381-382 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778095   In the sands of the Sinai: a physician’s account of the Yom Kippur war David Rodman Pages: 382-383 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778096   Israel’s silent defender: an inside look at sixty years of Israeli intelligence David Rodman Pages: 383-384 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778097   Brothers at war: Israel and the tragedy of the Altalena David Rodman Pages: 385-386 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778098   Israel: an introduction David Rodman Pages: 386-387 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778099   Only Israel west of the river: the Jewish state and the Palestinian question David Rodman Pages: 387-388 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778100   Israel and the United States: six decades of US–Israeli relations David Rodman Pages: 388-389 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778101   Nine lives of Israel: a nation’s history through the lives of its foremost leaders David Rodman Pages: 390-391 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778102   Israel’s Palestinians Raphael Cohen-Almagor Pages: 391-392 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2012.751734 Enjoy FREE ONLINE ACCESS to all Routledge articles published on the Arab Spring in the last year. Start reading now.

 

Cite: Stein, StateTube: Anthropological Reflections on Social Media and the Israeli State

Stein, Rebecca L. “StateTube: Anthropological Reflections on Social Media and the Israeli State.” Anthropological Quarterly 85.3 (2012): 893-916.

—

URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/anthropological_quarterly/v085/85.3.stein.html

—

Abstract

While the state’s blueprints for the social media future are currently being imagined by officials in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the political effects of this project are far from certain. What will digital statecraft mean for Israel’s relations with neighboring Arab states? How might it impact the everyday functioning of the Israeli military occupation and the everyday lives of Palestinians living under its thumb? For even as events in Egypt and Tunisia concretized state investment in social media as an information platform, and also as a tool for counter-insurgency, these revolutions raised other political specters as well. “We cannot but be impressed,” IDF spokesman Avi Benayahu noted recently in relation to current events in the Arab World, “at how Western technology harms regimes…one cell phone camera can harm a regime more than any intelligence operation can” (Fyler 2011). The fact that social media are concurrently employed by anti-occupation activists, Jewish and Palestinian, on both sides of the Green Line separating Israel proper from its occupied territories, is something that state officials interviewed for this article did not wish to address-and herein lie the risks. When viewed with the Arab Spring in mind, these countervailing digital trends raise the possibility of a very different digital future in Israel-far from that imagined in the IDF’s new media offices.

Cite: Carvin, The Trouble with Targeted Killing

Carvin, Stephanie. “The Trouble with Targeted Killing.” Security Studies 21.3 (2012): 529-55.

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09636412.2012.706513

Abstract

Is targeted killing an effective counterterrorism tactic? Several studies published in academic journals over the last decade differ over the answer. While some believe that it is effective as a tactic within a larger counterterrorism strategy, others believe that it has no effect or possibly a negative effect in countering terrorism. This paper argues that although current studies may be valuable for understanding the impact of targeted killing in specific case studies, they do not yet provide a basis for making general pronouncements on whether targeted killing is or is not an effective counterterrorism tactic. Problems include widely divergent definitions, a dearth of evidence, difficulties in measuring success, and the radical differences between case studies that make comparison and generalization a questionable exercise. However, while the evidence does not yet allow scholars, pundits, and policymakers to make general pronouncements on the effectiveness of targeted killing generally, it does provide grounds to begin a normative debate over whether such policies are appropriate. In addition, it suggests that researchers and policymakers should focus on gathering and improving empirical data to advance decision making on counter- terrorism tactics in the future, particularly on when targeted killing should or should not be employed.