A JEWISH ARMY

 

                                                                                    

Unfortunately, no country which is surrounded by hostile forces can survive without an army. Sadly, the world has yet to accept the Jewish nation’s full return to their ancient Homeland. Until they are fully accepted by the world, they must be ready to defend their country.

The Jews went from being a defenseless people, before modern Israel existed, to now having a state with an amazing capacity to defend itself.

The Israeli army can best be described by its contrasts. On one hand, it is a modern army, founded in 1948. On the other hand, it traces its earliest traditions, roots and symbolism, to the days of the Biblical ancient Israelites.

The technology-driven Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of the twenty first century is a far cry from the volunteer soldier farmers during the fight for Jewish independence in Palestine, from the 1940s. The founders of the IDF were so desperately short of resources that, up until the 1950s, even senior commanders mostly earned no wage, were in their early twenties, and lived by growing their own food.

What has typified the Israeli army throughout its diverse history is its commitment to innovation and its continuous maximization of the resources at its disposal - both human and technological. The Israeli army has always put great stress on the importance of improvisation. In order to defend Israel's narrow and vulnerable territory, the army has developed and attuned cutting edge technology to meet its defense needs.

At the same time, it is committed to assimilate refugees, new immigrants, and youth from poor development towns. Both the officer corps and the soldiers represent almost every sector in society; religious and non-religious, agricultural settlements, development towns, the Druze of the North and the Bedouin of the South uniting, as equals, all walks of life and backgrounds.

On one hand, it is considered one of the world's most professional, elite and effective fighting forces. Its air force, Special Forces, intelligence and engineering units have pioneered and executed novel and innovative campaigns that are studied by military tacticians all over the world.

On the other hand, it is also one of the world's most informal and least hierarchical armies. Officers often sleep and eat with their soldiers and the army makes minimum use of saluting and parades.

On the one hand, the Israeli army is considered to be a front-runner in conceptualizing and developing state-of -the-art weapons systems. Its technological and research departments have contributed enormously to providing cutting-edge technology. It has made world-class breakthroughs in ballistic missile technology, electro-optics and other fields. Soldiers from these units are highly sought after in the hi-tech world. Many have gone on to adapt their experience from these units for use in household PCs, internet portals, wireless communication - and even in cancer research.

On the other hand, the Israeli army plays an important educational function, providing special courses for under-educated recruits, and making special allowances for soldiers from troubled homes.

In order to contend with its hostile, murderous neighbours, Israel needs to have the most advanced tools in its arsenal. Approaching its 75^th birthday, Israel’s legitimacy is not contingent on its good behaviour, or the world’s good graces. This remarkable, tiny, democratic state has contributed far more than most countries, and must never apologise for existing.