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Description: Israeli Defence Force is arguably one of the more unique militaries around the world, combining a rapid mass mobilisation system with a strategy that prioritises a unique mix of offensive, defensive and industrial capabilities.
Now, with Israel mobilising those reserves and declaring a state of war, the capabilities of the IDF have taken on particularly pressing geopolitical significance, and so I thought it was time to take a closer look at the force, as we have previously for nations like Japan and the Republic of Korea.
In this video I look at the history of some major IDF operations, the development of Israeli strategy, doctrine, and capabilities and some initial observations arising out of the events of the last week.
I do want to say however, that as noted in the video, most of this presentation was prepared before the events of the last week in Israel and Gaza.
As a result, they focus on the IDF from a strategic and defence-industrial perspective with observations arising out of the recent escalation of open war between Hamas and Israel still being very much in their early, tentative stages.
I also want to stress that this video is not intended as a comprehensive study of the history of the region or Israeli-Palestinian relations. That does not mean that those issues or topics are unimportant – only that they are beyond the scope of this particular video.
Thank you for your continued support, and my best wishes to all civilians impacted by the recent and ongoing events.
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Corrections & Caveats:
- All usual caveats and comments obviously apply, including but not limited to those specifically set out in this video.
- When talking about Israeli versions of the Mirage, the slide is in the correct order but I invert the names when discussing them. I should have said the Nesher is the original model, and the Kfir is the upgraded version.
- I would also again like to stress the intended limits of this video’s scope and reiterate that the absence of discussion on a point should not be taken as apathy with relation to it.
Reading and source notes:
Translation of IDF Strategy Document - 2016
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US Integrated Country Strategy – Israel
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Arms transfer and expenditure data per SIPRI
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Platform and personnel figures per Military Balance 2022 (for reasons of consistency in method and source with other videos I’ve produced. These figures should not, in my view, be considered definitive)
Congressional Research Service Report on Israel (major issues and U.S Relations):
2023
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2018 (featuring the quote on nuclear ambiguity)
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Israel’s National Security Doctrine: The Report of the Committee on the Formulation of the National Security Doctrine Ten Years Later – Dan Meridor and Ron Eladi
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Saudia Arabia freezing Israel normalisation process
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Reporting on Israeli mobilisation
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CSIS on the recent apparent intelligence failure
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Putin Blaming USA for the present war
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Featured Reuters article on mobilisation
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Reporting on US sending aircraft carriers to the region
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Israel receiving Italian cannons for the Sa’ar class ships as discussed
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 — Israeli Defence Strategy & The IDF
00:00:48 — What Am I Talking About?
00:03:10 — What This Video Is Not
00:04:06 — History
00:13:51 — Strategic Position
00:20:23 — The IDF Today
00:26:27 — The War-peace Continuum
00:30:58 — The IDF, Mobilised
00:40:46 — Nuclear Ambiguity
00:45:17 — International Relations
00:51:19 — Budgets And Military Industrial Complex
00:57:41 — Events As Context
01:00:49 — Observations
01:05:42 — What Next?
01:09:59 — Conclusion
01:10:47 — Channel Update
