Targeting Gaza

This chapter examines how Israel Defense Force (IDF) lawyers came to play a crucial role in aerial targeting operations in Gaza and how they helped to develop a targeted killing policy in the post-2000 Second Intifada period. It outlines the historical roots of the Military Advocate General Corps (MAG Corps) in the creation and administration of the occupied Palestinian Territories. It then shows how in the early 2000s Israeli military lawyers became instrumental in devising new legal concepts and categories to expand the definition of what (and who, under what circumstances) constitutes a lawful target. It further argues that Israeli military lawyers have been pivotal in calibrating military violence in all of the recent major aerial assaults on Gaza, including ‘Operation Cast lead’ (2008–2009), ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’ (2012), and ‘Operation Protective Edge’ (2014). The mutual influence of US and Israeli targeting policies is also examined.

The War Lawyers

The War Lawyer s: The United States , Israel, and Juridical Warfare examines the laws of war as interpreted and applied by military lawyers to aerial targeting operations carried out by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) in Gaza. Drawing on interviews with military lawyers and others, this book explains why some lawyers became integrated in the chain of command whereby military targets are identified and attacked, whether by manned aircraft, drones and/or ground forces, and with what results. The analysis shows how a series of political, legal, and technological developments have given rise to a targeting apparatus that requires legal input. In examining the effects of this process, the book argues that when lawyers render legal advice on targeting, they effectively put the indeterminacy of law in the service of producing and extending military violence, as well as constraining it. This is an iterative and ongoing law-making enterprise carried out in concert with the commanders whom lawyers advise. The provision of legal answers and options takes place in a highly routinized fashion under the overarching imperatives of mission success, and crucially, under pressures of time and emergent events in the battlespace. Military lawyers respond to intelligence data from widely distributed actors—but also inevitable gaps, errors, and misinterpretations in such data. The War Lawyers examines the mutual influence of US and Israeli targeting policies and shows just how important law and military lawyers have become in the conduct of contemporary warfare.

Occupational influences on Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis in a cohort of 18-year-old male military conscripts

Background The reported prevalence of spondylolysis (SL) in the adult population is 6–7%. Data concerning adolescent-onset spondylolisthesis (SLS) and the impact of certain activities on it is scarce. We examined the risk of clinical progression of SL and SLS as a function of primary severity and occupational strain among military recruits. Methods Based on the Israel defense Force (IDF) central human resources database, we identified 1521 18-year-old males inducted to the IDF with SL/SLS between the late nineteen nineties and early two-thousands. We followed changes in the SL/SLS status during the 3 years of obligatory military service. Disease severity was classified as Cat2: radiological findings of SL without clinical findings; Cat3: painful SL or asymptomatic grade 1 SLS; Cat4: grade 1 SLS with pain; Cat5: Grade 2 SLS. The soldiers were subdivided into the following occupational categories: administrative, combat, maintenance, and driving. The purpose was to compare the progression rates in different medical categories and job assignments. Results There were 162 recruits in Cat2, 961 in Cat3, and 398 recruits in Cat4. The overall progression rate to Cat5 (grade 2 SLS) was 1.02%. Significant progression rates were seen amongst administrative soldiers with a relatively higher risk of progression from Cat4 (painful-grade-1 SLS: 2.2%) vs. Cat3 (asymptomatic SLS: 0.5%, relative risk = 4.7, p < 0.02). Other occupational categories did not exhibit significant progression rates. Conclusion Progression of SL/SLS was highest in Cat4, i.e. for recruits already diagnosed with painful SLS (i.e. with a more severe baseline disorder). Progression did not correlate with military occupation. We recommend further follow-up studies that include, aside from progression rates, incidence rates of newly diagnosed grade 2 SL during military service.

From Jewish Sentiments to Rational Exhortations

What exhortations were given to Israeli soldiers when sent to a possible sacrifice of their lives in war? This article introduces the genre of ‘battle missives’ written by Israel Defense Force (IDF) commanders as a prism to investigate this question. Battle missives are short texts sent to soldiers on the eve of battle to mobilize them to fight and to justify the risk to their lives. I employ narrative and hermeneutic methods to analyze an original database of 289 missives written between 1948 and 2014, which reveal the changing motivations and justifications preceding combat. My findings indicate a move from ‘Jewish sentimental’ exhortations that prevailed from 1948 until 1973 toward ‘rational’ exhortations between 1982 and 2014. This study locates battle missives as key to understanding the social norms and values relating to sacrifice in war, and the ways in which military commanders adjusted the language of sacrifice to reflect major transformations in both Israeli society and the IDF.

Intubation using the gum-elastic bougie while wearing personal protective equipment

Objective: To determine whether application of a gum-elastic bougie (GEB), a visual stylet used to improve success rates of difficult intubations, reduces the time, and number of attempts to achieve successful intubation while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).Design: A randomized cross-over study comparing orotracheal intubations performed on an AirMan® Mannequin, using either a semirigid stylet or a GEB, while wearing an active hood with a charcoal impregnated suit and butyl rubber gloves.Setting: Simulation training field of the Israel Defense Force Medical Corps.Participants: 27 military physicians and 23 paramedics (PMs).Interventions: Comparing intubation with and without using the GEB while wearing PPE.Main outcome measure(s): Airway (AW) control was considered successful if the “lungs” of the mannequin expanded during bag ventilation. Three unsuccessful attempts or a procedure exceeding 60 seconds were regarded as a failure. Correlations between parameters of self-assessment of skills and successful intubation were also determined.Results: With the GEB, success rate was lower (82 percent versus 100 percent, p = 0.002), more attempts were needed (1.4 ± 0.7 versus 1.0 ± 0.2, p = 0.005) and time-to-achieve AW control was longer (43.6 ± 14.6 seconds versus 23.1 ± 10.5 seconds, P 0.001) than without it. Participants with high self-assessment of GEB-assisted AW management skills needed less attempts to perform successful intubation with GEB than participants with low self-assessment (1.0 ± 0.0 versus 1.4 ± 0.8, p = 0.001), but not less time to achieve it.Conclusions: While donning PPE, the use of GEB (versus semirigid stylets) did not reduce the time or the number of attempts necessary to achieve successful intubation.

Women in combat roles: themes characterising adjustment in the Israel Defense Force—a pilot study

BackgroundThe Israel Defense Force is the only military organisation in the world that mandatorily conscripts women since its founding. Despite legislative changes, the percentage of women serving as combat soldiers is low, and the dropout rate is high. Women in these professions experience a complex and unique adaptation process.AimsTo characterise the experiences of female combat soldiers adjusting to combat roles in comparison with male soldiers and non-warfighter female soldiers.MethodA pilot study was undertaken in order to inform further research. Mental health officers in the women’s units conducted group interviews. These were composed of four stages: projection, reflection, processing and formulating solutions.ResultsThe themes apparent in the interviews conform to phenomena appearing in the literature such as tokenism, disruption of gender identity and internalisation of the superiority of male values. In addition, we identified distortion of body image and increased burnout.Discussion and conclusionsThe study points to the significance of gender aspects in the mental adaptation process of women in combat positions. Issues pertaining perceptions of inequality should not be deemed to be purely sociological, but rather as a gateway facilitating adjustment. This should be taken into account in future research and in the formulation of support strategies.

Integrating Israeli Defense Force (IDF) veterans with disabilities into the workforce: characteristics and predictors

Background According to the ICF Model, the central goal of rehabilitation is the returning of persons with disabilities to an active and fruitful life within society. The Israel Ministry of Defense Rehabilitation Department’s occupational rehabilitation program includes assessment, professional guidance, training, and assistance integrating into employment. Aim Examining predictors for the integration of Israel Defense Force veterans with disabilities into the workforce. Methods All 1416 male veterans with disabilities who served in the military, were injured during their service, and were treated by the Israel Ministry of Defense Rehabilitation Department between 2001 and 2006 were included in this study. Data collection was based on computerized administrative data in the Ministry of Defense. The data was collected with no identifying details. Predictive variables were: health condition, personal factors, participation factors, level of functioning and structure, and variables relating to the local environment. Results Compared to a physical disability, mental and mixed (physical and mental) disabilities reduce the odds for integration into the workforce. Higher education at the time of the injury is an additional predictor for integration into the workforce. Participation in a rehabilitation track for further education to acquire a profession is one of the main predictors for integration into the workforce. Conclusion The results may enable developing more accurate intervention plans, with more efficient use of resources, including consolidation of existing information systems and monitoring the processes and outcomes of rehabilitation.

The limits of socialization and the underproduction of military violence

Research on socialization can obscure the agency of its targets, presenting socialization as a uni-directional process shaping beliefs and behaviors. This assumption is even stronger for the military, a totalizing institution often portrayed as fashioning its members into violence professionals through a top-down process of domination. In contrast, this article argues that even powerful socialization processes are not omnipotent, and that individuals retain a measure of agency even under pervasive social control. Drawing on the case of the Israel Defense Force during the Second Intifada, it shows that norms inculcated during military socialization can be undermined by the more ambiguous conditions of deployment. When soldiers also subscribe to competing norms and receive social support for their dissent, resistance can emerge, increase, and become more overt. Analysis of resistance to violence underscores the power of military socialization while drawing attention to its limits. It therefore challenges homogenizing views of soldiers, illuminating the processes through which military violence is produced and curbed.