1st Edition

Israeli Counter-Insurgency and the Intifadas Dilemmas of a Conventional Army

By Sergio Catignani Copyright 2008
260 Pages
by Routledge

256 Pages
by Routledge

This volume analyzes the conduct of the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) counter-insurgency operations during the two major Palestinian uprisings (1987-1993 and 2000-2005) in the Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It employs primary and secondary resources to produce a comprehensive analysis on whether or not the IDF has been able to adapt its conventional conduct of warfare to the... Read more
1. Introduction2. Combat Motivation3. Political--Military Relations4. National Security Doctrine 5. Land and the Rise of the LIC Struggle6. The Intifada7. The Al-Aqsa Intifada 8. Strategic Impasse9. Unilateral Disengagement10. Conclusion11. Postface: The Lebanon Summer War

Biography

Sergio Catignani is Lecturer in Strategic and Security Studies at the University of Sussex. He has a PhD in War Studies from King's College London. He is the co-editor with Professor Clive Jones of Israel and Hizbollah: An Asymmetric Conflict in Historical and Comparative Perspective (Routledge, 2009).

'Catignani’s Israeli Counter-Insurgency and the Intifadas is a lucid, thorough and comprehensive account which fills a major gap in the existing literature. It will be of immense interest to students of low-intensity conflict and counter-insurgency, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and strategic studies in general. Highly recommended.'
Ahron Bregman, Journal of Strategic Studies

'...a useful and well-written survey of the development of military-political relations in Israel, and of the Israeli response to the emergence of low-intensity conflict as a central factor facing Israeli strategists.'
Jonathan Spyer, Middle East Journal

'This clearly written, balanced and accessible book sets out to analyse the tactical and operational conduct of the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) counter-insurgency operations during two major Palestinian uprisings (1987–93) It aims to examine ‘whether or not the IDF has been able to adapt its conventional order of battle and conduct of warfare to the realities of the Israeli–Palestinian low intensity conflict (LIC) and achieve some sort of victory over the Palestinian insurgency’.The book also looks at ‘what effects both Palestinian Intifadas have had on the combat morale of the IDF’ something which the author sees as strongly related to combat efficiency.'
Amnon Aran, Political Studies Review