Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security and Foreign Policy

Most of the wars in which Israel has been involved were the result of Israeli aggression, flawed decision making, and conflict management strategies, or were otherwise avoidable. According to esteemed scholar and policy analyst Zeev Maoz, Israel's war experience is a story of folly, recklessness, and self-made traps. None of the wars - with the possible exception of the 1948 War of Independence - were what Israelis call wars of necessity. They were all wars of choice or folly. "Defending the Holy Land" is a comprehensive and critical analysis of Israel's national security and foreign policy from the inception of the state of Israel to the present. In these pages, Maoz argues that Israel's national security policy rested on a trigger-happy approach to the use of force combined with a hesitant and reactive peace diplomacy. This combination was facilitated by the domination of the security establishment over the foreign policy apparatus, resulting in unnecessary or aggressive wars and missed opportunities for peace. Ultimately, "Defending the Holy Land" calls for a fundamental reassessment of Israel's security doctrine and for a major reform in the foreign policy and national security establishments.