Breaking consensus : the occupation and the employment of the Israel Defense Forces

Abstract

With the establishment of universal conscription in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and reserve duty lasting much of the average male's adult life, the IDF became one of the central institutions of the State of Israel. The occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the Sinai, and Golan in 1967, forced Israelis to re-examine their deeply shared, or hegemonic views about security, peace, and war, especially regarding the employment of the IDF. This thesis examines the effects of Israeli political divisions, specifically with regard to the occupied territories, and further, how those political cleavages affect the employment of the IDF. Its first case study examines the progression of selective refusal to serve in the IDF from the extreme left of the Israeli political spectrum to the center-left, from the Lebanon War through the current uprising. The second case study examines the relationship between the IDF and Fundamentalist Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories, emphasizing resistance to settlement removal over time. This thesis concludes with prescriptions for redefining the borders of the State of Israel in order to prevent a loss of consensus regarding the legitimacy of the state from the right or the left of the political spectrum.