Postmodern or Conservative? Competing Security Communities over Military Doctrine: Israeli National-Religious Soldiers as Counter [Strategic] Culture Agents

From the beginning of the 1990s, Israeli society has become increasingly exposed to what has been termed "the postmodern situation." This term refers to processes that affected the generation following the "founding elite" of the State. The postmodern army, thus, adapts itself to the outlook of the civilian elite it serves, while at the same time engaging in a process that diminishes its concern for issues of national security, in general, and the valorous military experience in particular. This military operation was perceived as dominated by the conservative security community in the Israeli Defense Force. The postmodern situation is a state of conflict between the dominant and counter cultures. As a part of its tendency to display casualty phobia and casualty panic, Israeli military policy exhibits an anti-combatant orientation, preferring this to the allocation of time for military maneuvers. It should be noted that this conception is foreign to Israeli military doctrine.