Israel was founded by European Jewish Intellectuals who – with only some exceptions – deeply believed in the power of the intellect to properly order every element of society. In other words, they admired communism. Hence Israel’s national union, kibbutzim and moshavim, state-owned enterprises, and universal conscription to the armed forces.
Israel has retained much of this legacy. When I was a student there, I was forced to join the Student Union, despite my protestations. In the early 1990s I was asked how we can homeschool without access to television. In Israel at the time, television and radio were exclusive mouthpiece to the government. The Israeli questioner asked, without irony, “But without television, how will your children know what they are supposed to think?”
In many ways, Israel has liberalized since then – many fewer things are state owned or controlled. The Unions are weaker. Kibbutzim and Moshavim basically failed. TV and radio now are dominated by the private sector. But the military… that is another story.
Israel has compulsory service for Jewish men and women, as well as Druze and Circassian men. Non-Druze Arab citizens of Israel (most Muslims, Christians, and Bedouins) are exempt from the draft but may volunteer – thousands choose to do so.
Why? Because the army is the gateway to recognized citizenship within the country. Having served comes with a sense of fellowship, belonging, and automatic acceptance by the society at large in a myriad of ways. Army service is what brings the country together, ensuring there is a sense of a shared mission.
Nevertheless, Israel is a huge exception: certain orthodox Jews (“Charedim”) usually reject assimilating with the rest of Israel. This most prominently is seen in their refusal to serve in the military. As Charedim are over 15% of the population (and growing), this is not a small exception to the rule.
Israel is currently riven by the issue of whether the Charedim (and other dissenters) should be compelled to serve in the military. Both the defenders of universal conscription and the Charedim see the military not solely for national defense, but as a tool to forge social cohesion, to make sure that everyone in that tiny country understands, at their core, the importance of unity under fire.
But social cohesion comes with a lot of baggage: do men and women serve together – even those from backgrounds where casual contact and immodest dress are not found? Should everyone be exposed to the same culture, even if they prefer to stay separated? The army even tells people how to think (like pre-1990s television). Should Charedim voluntarily acquiesce to hostile indoctrination?
These seemingly-unsolvable questions are bringing down the current government. To make things worse, the vast majority of Israelis across the political spectrum, in their hearts, retain the answer of communists, socialists and all totalitarians: use any means necessary to make the Other Guys submit to the way we see it. There is no ethos of freedom at play here. Everyone wants to win, and to do it by publicly humiliating the losers.
Enter the possibility of going in a new direction: a professional army, replacing universal conscription. Here is a great summary of that argument. Such an army would be cheaper and more capable. It would also eliminate most of the tinder that is fueling this civil war.
Why has Israel not done this before? Because a professional army would end the founding dream within Israel of the army as the universal social glue, the great collective unification of The People coming together to defend Israel against those who seek to exterminate the 19 million remaining Jews in the world of 8.5 billion people.
The challenge to Israel moving to a professional army is not economic or practical or even about effectiveness in battle. There is no question that a paid army of professionals would be far more elite and successful than citizens who are routinely called up for reserve duty.
No, the challenge is about the foundational culture of the country, and whether Israel needs to see itself as having a shared national mission with shared sacrifice spread across the entire populace. I can see the virtue in it – but I also think that it is time to shake loose those remaining socialist shackles.
The icing on the cake, at least to the military planners who are paying attention, is the growing realization that infantry (briefly trained foot soldiers) are becoming much less important and valuable. The Ukraine War has shown that drones (airborne as well as naval and ground) can in fact conquer and hold terrain. The robots are here, and they have performed everything from minesweeping to beach landings and armored assault inland. It means that if Israel has the drones (and the AI/software to make the most of them), the Israeli military will require a lot less manpower than it did. There is no reason that future wars will require that thousands of young men and women will be cut down in their prime. Drones can be designed, built, programmed and operated far from the front lines, and from behind desks – and all by dedicated professionals.
In a drone war, unity in combat quickly becomes an historical artifact – just as the citizen army should.
Inertia is powerful. Perhaps nothing will change and the civil war will continue. But I very much hope otherwise.
Creativejudaism.org