ABSTRACT
The day after the independent, democratic State of Israel was born on 14 May 1948, it found itself battling for survival against an invasion force of regular armies from neighbouring Arab states. This existential crisis had a precedent-setting influence on the creation of the political institutions and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). It was also the initial stage of the complex relationship between the political level and the senior military command that has continued for the following 57 years of Israel’s national independence. Since then the intensity and dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict, with an average of one major war every decade, has influenced the way that Israeli political institutions exercise supervision over the IDF.
