ABSTRACT
The Ideological and Political Background of the Israel Defence Forces
Yaacov N. Goldstein
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has been a central factor in Israel's success in ensuring its existence since its founding in 1948. This article examines the historical, sociological and political roots of this military force, placing the IDF in the historical context of the early Zionist desire to create a military defence force. Its main argument is that it was the predominant influence of socialist Zionist thinking that defined the development of defence bodies before 1948 and that this had the greatest influence on the IDF after the State of Israel had been founded.
