National security

Military Coup – Is It Possible in Israel?

It is “not a country which has an army, but an army which has a country” – said one of the leaders of the French Revolution, Honore Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, referring to 18th century Prussia.

21st century Israel also isn’t a country which has an army, it is the IDF which has a country. The influence of the defense establishment on society in Israel goes far beyond security in the military sense.  There is a complex relationship between the society and the army and other security systems in Israel, as in every democratic state, where the military system is supposed to be an arm of the executive authority, which is subject to the decisions of the political level. The army and the other security organs (police, Mossad, and the General Security Services) execute the policy designed by the political level. Supervising them is especially complex because the army in Israel has a special position, derived from the importance of security, the fact that it is a basic service for the citizens, and from its bureaucratic autonomy.