Israel has the most powerful security establishment in the region and is proud of it. It is the only state in the region with nuclear arms. Israel is politically, militarily and economically supported by the U.S. to an unprecedented degree. Its borders with Syria, Egypt and Jordan have been quiet for decades. The PLO recognized Israel more than a decade ago. Still, Israelis seem to live in constant fear.
The Arab world has expressed readiness, through its newly-reactivated peace initiative, to recognize Israel and establish full relations if it withdraws to the 1967 borders. However, Israelis are still fearful and their politicians want even more political and security guarantees from Palestinians and Arabs. As an Israeli friend recently told me, Israeli society has become obsessed with existential reassurance, increasingly withdrawing into a bunker-mentality in which military security is the pretext and subtext of all other social and political aims. Consequently, security has in many instances become an elections game.
Lack of clear security objectives has contributed to conflicting views among Israelis about the meaning and method of achieving security. For example, many frightened Israelis believe that protecting the Jewish identity of the state is a security issue. Seeing ethnic and religious identity as security issues has severely slowed the social integration of Palestinian citizens of Israel into the wider society. Through this ever present fear, Israel has fallen into the same trap as oppressive regimes – limiting the definition of “national security” to its military aspect, neglecting the remaining key components – diplomacy, social development and even economic growth. Israel's obsession with military security has led it to cut important social programs, harming the poorest Israelis and contributing to a rise in the crime rate and illicit activities.
Israel has employed its fear to increase the scope of its security and political objectives and expectations to an unrealistic and reckless limit. Over the past few decades it has indulged in various unnecessary military adventures, thereby committing blatant human rights violations. This unflinchingly aggressive stance has complicated chances of peace, reduced opportunities for coexistence with its neighbors. Israel's drive for a state of total and absolute security is instead the cause of Israeli's constant state of insecurity.
Israel's narrowly defined security doctrine has also confused the Israeli public. Israelis twice elected Ariel Sharon as prime minister, even though they knew of his poor performance on social and economic issues. But they did not vote for him because of economic issues; Israelis voted for him because he promised to crush the second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) in a hundred days. That was several years ago. Today the Intifada continues, and Israelis still do not feel secure.
Focused so narrowly on military superiority to the exclusion of other approaches to security, Israel now lacks deep strategic insight. Instead it is obsesses with annexing more Arab and Palestinian territories, in an elusive hunt for strategic geographic depth that makes Israeli increasingly insecure. This tactic has proven unfeasible from a strategic perspective – it causes endless confrontation with the people who reject occupation, brings about the moral burden of blatant human rights violations, including collective punishment and excessive use of force against civilians. Confusing social and economic development policies with security issues has made Israel lose the capacity to anticipate major events such as the first and second Palestinian Intifadas, Hezbollah’s capability during the recent war on Lebanon, the results of the Palestinian elections and other major events.
Ignoring the element of human integrity in the Israeli security doctrine has made Israel fall into uncalculated adventures and raging resistance against the occupation. Brzezinski, a former American national security advisor, pinpointed this element in his recently published book. “The worldwide yearning for human dignity is the central challenge inherent in the phenomenon of global political awakening.” Air-fighters, police, tanks and guns will not kill this yearning; rather, it only makes it stronger.
Instead of taking a holistic approach to security, in recent years Israel has adopted the policy of vengeful air and land raids against the authorities and peoples of the neighboring countries. Such raids are aimed at destroying the political and economic infrastructure of these countries in order to force them into protecting the borders the way Israel prefers. The air raids, including last summer war in Lebanon, where Israel dropped millions of cluster bombs, have increase hatred towards Israel. This constant state of fear and obsession with military security has militarized Israeli society and allowed military mindset to dominate the consciousness of society, even in their interactions with each other.
Fear is an unjustified by-product of Israel's own policies. It has brought catastrophes, social disease and hindered the chances of peace with the Palestinians and the Arabs in general. It has led to Israel committing blatant human rights violations and bewildered Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs and the whole world. It has increased Israel’s isolation and militarized Israeli society. Despite its military superiority, this failure to establish real security in the lands it governs is instead the real reason behind Israel's constant state of fear.
* Emad Omar specializes in conflict resolution and media expert based in Amman, Jordan.
Add Comments