ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the relationship between Israel's offensive military doctrine and its broader security doctrine. It provides a brief discussion of those general features of military doctrine that can assist in the analysis of Israeli military doctrine. The chapter also focuses on three cardinal issues: the nature and importance of military doctrine, the special appeal of offensive military doctrines, and the causes of stagnation as well as sources of innovation in military doctrines. It draws on the existing literature in the field and explores the original doctrine selection to be the product of an instrumental rational process, and reviews those factors that push for adoption of an offensive doctrine as a means to an end, whatever the end may be. Quite a few studies of strategy and modern military services contend that military organizations seem to have a pronounced, consistent and deeprooted bias in favor of offensive doctrine.