ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews short-term interactions among economic conditions, domestic politics, and the threat and use of military force against other nations. The principal analysis consists of a time-series multiple regression of the 1950-1988 period, with Israeli military operations as the dependent variable. Any "permanent plebiscite" is less important than the electoral pressures of the Israeli political system. The chapter shows that the Israeli experience is part of a wider phenomenon that affects democratic countries with intense security problems. Israeli backing for the war in Lebanon shows how drastically and rapidly popular support can be withdrawn from an unsuccessful war. During most of its history, Israel has been subjected to a variety of shellings, border incursions and other externally-mounted terrorist attacks. Military/security/peace-war issues are usually the dominant concerns that affect Israelis' feelings of well-being, even more than are economic issues.
