War Opponents and Proponents

Abstract

Due to public pressure, primarily by the protest movement led by reserve troops and bereaved parents, a committee was established to examine the failure of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Surprisingly, members of the committee noted a number of times in their summarizing report that Israel’s failure in the war stemmed from the fact that “the IDF was managed during the war as one for whom the concern for casualties was an essential component of planning and part of the considerations of the campaigns.” Thus they complained that “for all the sensitivity that one must feel for the lives of the soldiers, and the necessity to include this factor among all the guiding considerations, it is still difficult to accept the exceptional influence that this consideration had on the decisions made by the senior officers and the political decision makers.”²

I would like to thank Ayala Shaulson for assisting in locating archival sources and for the productive exchange of ideas. Many thanks to Prof. Claire Phelan and Prof. Dana Cooper for the exciting invitation to take part in this pioneering and significant anthology and for Jay Knarr for professional editing assistance. I wish to dedicate the article to Neomi Lebel, my beloved, brave Jewish mother.