ABSTRACT
Clearly, then, relations between Israelis and their army have turned a corner. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) no longer stands at the very core of Israeli society, assured of virtually automatic adulation and esteem. With the reputation of the armed forces tarnished by revelations of misconduct as well as incompetence, and their once sacrosanct status in any case undermined by deep shifts in popular values, the old image of a uniquely unruffled symbiosis between Israelis and their army can no longer be sustained.
