Political-Military Partnership in Israel

Since the Six-Day War in 1967 a profound transformation has occurred in political- military relations in Israel. National consensus in the security sphere has collapsed. The authority and legitimacy of the political leadership have been shaken, and the army has acquired direct political roles, mainly through the establishment of a military government in the occupied territories. These developments have changed the early pattern of a nonpolitical citizen army, subordinate to the civil authorities, to a new pattern of political- military partnership. The intense politicization of the Israel Defence Forces undermined their former elevated and sacred position and made them a focus of public controversy. Thus, while Israel has remained a democracy, in spite of the protracted war, its armed forces have taken over functions far exceeding those of other professional armies in similar Western democracies.