The Perils of Containment/Restraint in Israel's National Security Behavior

In recent decades, Israel has often displayed containment/restraint in its national security behavior, preferring to restrain its reactions to provocations rather than escalating conflict. As such, it refrained from mounting preemptive/preventive strikes. Foreign policy and domestic considerations,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Israel journal of foreign affairs 2024-01, Vol.18 (1), p.35-47
Main Authors: Inbar, Efraim, Bacharach, Menachem
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Containment
Deterrence
Dosage
Economic development
Foreign policy
National security
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Summary:In recent decades, Israel has often displayed containment/restraint in its national security behavior, preferring to restrain its reactions to provocations rather than escalating conflict. As such, it refrained from mounting preemptive/preventive strikes. Foreign policy and domestic considerations, reluctance to rule over hostile populations, casualty aversion, changes within the military brass, and misperceptions of modern warfare are at the core of this phenomenon. Both access to missile production and the development of technologies for intercepting high-trajectory fire contributed to this proclivity for restraint. Yet containment erodes deterrence; allows the adversary time for a military buildup and routinizes its use of force; and allows incremental increases in acceptable doses of violence against Israel.
ISSN:2373-9770
2373-9789
DOI:10.1080/23739770.2024.2321546