Israel Has Failed to Restore Deterrence
From Israel’s founding to the present, no concept has so thoroughly dominated the country’s strategic imagination as much as deterrence. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon once said deterrence was the country’s “main weapon—the fear of us”. “Israel”, remarked the fabled Israeli general Moshe Dayan, “must be seen as a mad dog; too dangerous to bother”.
That’s why, after the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, an unprecedented existential urgency was placed on reestablishing the country’s deterrence, which had been steadily waning since Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000. “What happened today has never before been seen in Israel”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis after the Oct.… Seguir leyendo »