1st Edition

Routledge Handbook on Israeli Security

Edited By Stuart A. Cohen, Aharon Klieman Copyright 2019
    366 Pages
    by Routledge

    366 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Routledge Handbook on Israeli Security provides an authoritative survey of both the historical roots of Israel’s national security concerns and their principal contemporary expressions. Following an introduction setting out its central themes, the Handbook comprises 27 independent chapters, all written by experts in their fields, several of whom possess first-hand diplomatic and/or military experience at senior levels. An especially noteworthy feature of this volume is the space allotted to analyses of the impact of security challenges not just on Israel’s diplomatic and military postures (nuclear as well as conventional) but also on its cultural life and societal behavior.

    Specifically, it aims to fulfill three principal needs.

    • The first is to illustrate the dynamic nature of Israel's security concerns and the ways in which they have evolved in response to changes in the country's diplomatic and geo-strategic environment, changes that have been further fueled by technological, economic and demographic transformations;
    • Second, the book aims to examine how the evolving character of Israel's security challenges has generated multiple – and sometimes conflicting – interpretations of the very concept of "security", resulting in a series of dialogues both within Israeli society and between Israelis and their friends and allies abroad;
    • Finally, it also discusses how areas of private and public life elsewhere considered inherently "civilian" and unrelated to security, such as artistic and cultural institutions, nevertheless do mirror the broader legal, economic and cultural consequences of this Israeli preoccupation with national security.

    This comprehensive and up-to-date collection of studies provides an authoritative and interdisciplinary guide to both the dynamism of Israel’s security dilemmas and to their multiple impacts on Israeli society. In addition to its insights and appeal for all people and countries forced to address the security issue in today’s world, this Handbook is a valuable resource for upper-level undergraduates and researchers with an interest in the Middle East and Israeli politics, international relations and security studies.

    Introduction The Israeli Security Prism 1. Free or fearful? Zionism’s responses to Jewish insecurity, Uriel Abulof 2. Israel’s post-1948 security experience, David Rodman 3. The evolution and development of the Israel Defense Forces, Yaakov Amidror Debating Security 4. Neither Sparta nor Athens: Israeli public opinion on national security, Tamar Hermann 5. Security issues as mirrored in the digital social media Moran Yarchi 6. Settlements and security: a debate A security asset Gershon Hacohen A security liability Shaul Arieli 7. Keeping faith: religious Jewish perspectives on Israeli security Aharon Kampinsky 8. Israeli Arab perspectives on security Amal Jamal 9. The Supreme Court as a forum for national security discourse Amichai Cohen 10. Security narratives in Israeli literature Uri S. Cohen 11. Security narratives in Israeli dramatic arts Tali Silberstein Framing Security Policy 12. National security decision-making Charles D. Freilich 13. The dynamics of civil-military relations and the complexity of Israel’s security policies Yagil Levy 14. The diplomatic path to security Steven R. David 15. Negotiating Israeli security Aharon Klieman 16. The U.S.-Israel security relationship Daniel Kurtzer 17. Israel's evolving relationship with American Jewry: a matter of national security Dov S. Zakheim Pursuing Security 18. Israel's security model Avi Kober 19. Security, technology and cyberwarfare Isaac Ben Israel 20. Towards a Middle East regional security regime?Martin Kramer 21. Israel’s expanding strategic horizons: finding extra-regional security partners Eran Lerman 22. Weapon of last resort? the nuclear dimension of Israeli security Avner Cohen Augmenting Security: Costs and Benefits 23. "Building resilience": the public discourse Keren Friedman-Peleg 24. The civilian home front: in search of societal resilience Meir Elran and Carmit Padan 25. Women and the Israeli military culture Orna Sasson-Levy and Gilly Hartal 26. The economics of prioritizing security: Israel’s defense burden, 1948-2018 Ben-Zion Zilberfarb 27. Jewish, democratic and resilient? on competing visions of Israel Yedidia Z. Stern

    Biography

    Stuart A. Cohen is a graduate of Oxford University and Professor Emeritus of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. His current research focuses on military–societal relations in Israel. His most recent book is Divine Service? Judaism and Israel's Armed Forces (2016).

    Aharon Klieman is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He has been a member of Tel-Aviv University’s Department of Political Science since 1969 and is currently Professor Emeritus. He is the editor of Great Powers and Geopolitics: International Affairs in a Rebalancing World (2015).

    " It is undoubtedly an important, impressive, and useful handbook that deserves a place in the library of anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Israel’s national security challenges. "

    - Kobi Michael, Institute for National Security Studies