The politics of language in multiethnic militaries: The case of oriental Jews in the Israel defence forces, 1950-1959

Armed Forces and Society

Volumn 26, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 587-605

  Peled, Alon ^a  

^a HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM   (Israel)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0034376477     PISSN: 0095327X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0095327X0002600405     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. See, for example, Sydney N. Fisher, The Military in Middle Eastern Society and Politics (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1963), 432.
2. Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History, Vol. VII (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1954), 243-246.
3. Bharat Karnad, "The Military and National Integration in India," 129, and Claude E. Welch, Jr., "The Military and Social Integration in Ethiopia," in Ethnicity, Integration and the Military, eds. Henry Dietz, Jerrod Elkin, and Maurice Roumani (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991), 154.
4. Bharat Karnad, "The Military and National Integration in India," 129, and Claude E. Welch, Jr., "The Military and Social Integration in Ethiopia," in Ethnicity, Integration and the Military, eds. Henry Dietz, Jerrod Elkin, and Maurice Roumani (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991), 154.
5. Max Weber, Economy and Society (1922; reprint, New York: Bedminster Press, 1968).
6. John Zametica, The Yugoslav Conflict, Adelphi Paper 270 (London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1992), 11, 40-45; U.S. News & World Report, Triumph Without Victory: The Unreported History of the Persian Gulf War (New York: Random House, 1992), 320; Samir al-Khalil, Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modem Iraq (Berkeley: University of California Press), 165; Pradeep P. Barua, "Ethnic Conflict in the Military of Developing Nations: A Comparative Analysis of India and Nigeria," Armed Forces & Society 19 (Fall 1992): 129-135.
7. John Zametica, The Yugoslav Conflict, Adelphi Paper 270 (London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1992), 11, 40-45; U.S. News & World Report, Triumph Without Victory: The Unreported History of the Persian Gulf War (New York: Random House, 1992), 320; Samir al-Khalil, Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modem Iraq (Berkeley: University of California Press), 165; Pradeep P. Barua, "Ethnic Conflict in the Military of Developing Nations: A Comparative Analysis of India and Nigeria," Armed Forces & Society 19 (Fall 1992): 129-135.
8. John Zametica, The Yugoslav Conflict, Adelphi Paper 270 (London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1992), 11, 40-45; U.S. News & World Report, Triumph Without Victory: The Unreported History of the Persian Gulf War (New York: Random House, 1992), 320; Samir al-Khalil, Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modem Iraq (Berkeley: University of California Press), 165; Pradeep P. Barua, "Ethnic Conflict in the Military of Developing Nations: A Comparative Analysis of India and Nigeria," Armed Forces & Society 19 (Fall 1992): 129-135.
9. John Zametica, The Yugoslav Conflict, Adelphi Paper 270 (London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1992), 11, 40-45; U.S. News & World Report, Triumph Without Victory: The Unreported History of the Persian Gulf War (New York: Random House, 1992), 320; Samir al-Khalil, Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modem Iraq (Berkeley: University of California Press), 165; Pradeep P. Barua, "Ethnic Conflict in the Military of Developing Nations: A Comparative Analysis of India and Nigeria," Armed Forces & Society 19 (Fall 1992): 129-135.
10. Kenneth S. Grundy, Soldiers Without Politics: Blacks in the South African Armed Forces (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), 102.
11. Jean Pariseau and Serge Bernier, French Canadians and Bilingualism in the Canadian Armed Forces, Vol. I: 1763-1969: The Fear of a Parallel Army (Ottawa: Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 1988), 18. Adam Roberts, Nation in Arms (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976), and John McPhee, La Place de la Concorde Suisse (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1984).
12. Jean Pariseau and Serge Bernier, French Canadians and Bilingualism in the Canadian Armed Forces, Vol. I: 1763-1969: The Fear of a Parallel Army (Ottawa: Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 1988), 18. Adam Roberts, Nation in Arms (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976), and John McPhee, La Place de la Concorde Suisse (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1984).
13. Jean Pariseau and Serge Bernier, French Canadians and Bilingualism in the Canadian Armed Forces, Vol. I: 1763-1969: The Fear of a Parallel Army (Ottawa: Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 1988), 18. Adam Roberts, Nation in Arms (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976), and John McPhee, La Place de la Concorde Suisse (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1984).
14. Desmond Morton, A Military History of Canada (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Inc. 1992), 257, 258-259.
15. This argument holds water well whatever the primordial basis of the riots (i.e., language, ethnicity, race, or religion). For example, Rear Admiral Draper Kauffman, superintendent of the United States Navy from 1965 to 1968, displayed great ingenuity and flexibility when LBJ demanded that the match the integration pace of black servicemen in the Air Force and the Army. See John W. Bodnar, "How Long Does it Take to Change a Culture? Integration at the U.S. Naval Academy," Armed Forces & Society 25 (Winter 1999): 297-299.
16. Morton, A Military History of Canada, 256, 258-259.
17. Ellen Jones, Red Army and Society: A Sociology of the Soviet Military (Boston: Allen & Unwin, 1985), 190-192.
18. Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), 395-419.
19. S. N. Eizenstadt, "New Directions in the Study of the Oriental Communities," in New Directions in the Study of Ethnic Communities, eds. Naama Cohen and Ora Ahimeir (Jerusalem: The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, 1984), 5.
20. State of Israel, Divrei Haknesset [Parliamentary Records] Vol. II (August 15, 1949), 1338; Tom Bowden, Army in the Service of the State (Tel Aviv: University Publishing Projects, 1976).
21. State of Israel, Divrei Haknesset [Parliamentary Records] Vol. II (August 15, 1949), 1338; Tom Bowden, Army in the Service of the State (Tel Aviv: University Publishing Projects, 1976).
22. Victor Azarya and Caruch Kimmerling, "New Immigrants in the Israel Armed Forces," Armed Forces & Society 6 (1980), 455-482; Victor Azarya, "The Israel Armed Forces," Civic Education in the Military, eds. Morris Janowitz and S. D. Westbrood (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1983); Sammy Smooha, "Ethnicity and the Military in Israel: Theses for Discussion and Research," State, Government and International Affairs 22 (Winter 1983-84), 27-28.
23. Victor Azarya and Caruch Kimmerling, "New Immigrants in the Israel Armed Forces," Armed Forces & Society 6 (1980), 455-482; Victor Azarya, "The Israel Armed Forces," Civic Education in the Military, eds. Morris Janowitz and S. D. Westbrood (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1983); Sammy Smooha, "Ethnicity and the Military in Israel: Theses for Discussion and Research," State, Government and International Affairs 22 (Winter 1983-84), 27-28.
24. Victor Azarya and Caruch Kimmerling, "New Immigrants in the Israel Armed Forces," Armed Forces & Society 6 (1980), 455-482; Victor Azarya, "The Israel Armed Forces," Civic Education in the Military, eds. Morris Janowitz and S. D. Westbrood (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1983); Sammy Smooha, "Ethnicity and the Military in Israel: Theses for Discussion and Research," State, Government and International Affairs 22 (Winter 1983-84), 27-28.
25. Maurice Roumani, "The Military, Ethnicity, and Integration in Israel Revisited," in Ethnicity, Integration and the Military, eds. Henry Dietz, Jerrod Elkin, and Maurice Roumani (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991), 69-70.
26. Colonel Mordechai Bar-On, The Process of Integrating Ethnic Groups in Tshahal [Hebrew] (Tel Aviv: Israel Defence Forces, 1961), 4-5; General (Res.) Elad Peled, "Does the IDF Constitute a Militaristic Threat to the Israeli Society?" [Hebrew] Ma'archot 287 (June 1983), 15.
27. Colonel Mordechai Bar-On, The Process of Integrating Ethnic Groups in Tshahal [Hebrew] (Tel Aviv: Israel Defence Forces, 1961), 4-5; General (Res.) Elad Peled, "Does the IDF Constitute a Militaristic Threat to the Israeli Society?" [Hebrew] Ma'archot 287 (June 1983), 15.
28. Smooha, "Ethnicity and the Military in Israel," 16-17.
29. Moshe Lissak, "A Reply: Theses for Discussion or Preliminary Attitudes?" State, Government and International Affairs 22 (Winter 1983-84), 33.
30. Israel Defence Force Archives (IDFA) (1953): File 55/65/4.
31. David Ben-Gurion Archive (1951): File 9-C-2.
32. Israel Defence Forces Archives [IDFA] (1953): File 55/65/281; David Ben-Gurion, Diary [Sde-Boker: David Ben-Gurion Archive], (July 10, 1953).
33. Israel Defence Forces Archives [IDFA] (1953): File 55/65/281; David Ben-Gurion, Diary [Sde-Boker: David Ben-Gurion Archive], (July 10, 1953).
34. Yitzhak Moshe Emanuel, The Gap: Absorption, Attitudes and Propositions to Resolve the Melting-Pot Issue in Israel (Holon: Ami Publications, 1968), 201.
35. Reuven Gal, Portrait of the Israeli Soldier (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986).
36. IDFA (1953): File 55/65/275.
37. The exceptionally large ratio of conscripts who were not tested in 1951-52 is not accounted for in the IDF's archival documents. It was probably due to a very large influx of new immigrants who were conscripted to the military shortly after they arrived in the state in 1950.
38. IDFA (1953): File 55/65/275.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Ibid.
45. This number is based on a list containing data about the ethnic background of IDF officers that was submitted to Ben-Gurion in 1953. An unnamed officer commented on the margins of this list: "Numbers are based on personal acquaintance and family name. We can assume that there are people in this list who are not Oriental" (IDFA, 1953: File 55/65/275).
46. Ben-Gurion, Diary (March 2, 1959).
47. IDFA, 1953: File 55/65/275.
48. Shlomo Cohen-Tzidon, The Problem of [Oriental] Communities Representation in the Knesset and in the [State's] Institutions (Tel Aviv: Elections publication, 1955), 14.
49. Ben-Gurion, Diary (March 16, 1954).
50. Ibid. (August 19, 1956).
51. Ibid. (October 29, 1952 and October 22, 1957).
52. Ibid. (July 10, 1953).
53. Ibid. (November 21, 1958); Interview with Hayyim Israeli, Assistant to the Minister of Defence (August 6, 1992), Tel Aviv, Israel.
54. Ibid. (November 21, 1958); Interview with Hayyim Israeli, Assistant to the Minister of Defence (August 6, 1992), Tel Aviv, Israel.
55. Interview with Lt. General (Res.) Zvi Zur, Former Chief of Staff - IDF (August 6, 1992), Tel Aviv, Israel.
56. Traditionally, immigrants who came from either Spain or the Arab world were considered Sephardic Jews. The Sephardic party's representatives were members of the small Sephardic community that arrived in Israel before the 20th century; during the early 1950s they were considered the Knesset representatives of the new Oriental immigrants.
57. Emanuel, "The Gap," 170.
58. Ben-Gurion Archives (1949): General File A.
59. Ben-Gurion, Diary (March 2, 1959).
60. Ibid. (February 3, 1959); IDFA (1953): File 55/65/275.
61. Ibid. (February 3, 1959); IDFA (1953): File 55/65/275.
62. Emanuel, "The Gap," 184.
63. Ben-Gurion, Diary (February 1, 1959, October 7, 1959, and November 19, 1959).
64. Israel State Archive (1960): File: 71-1673.
65. Afikim, (September 1982): 3.
66. Aviad Bar-Hayyim, "Patterns of Ethnic Integration Among the Israeli Military Elite," Megamot: Behavioral Science Quarterly, [Hebrew] (August 1987): 267-288.
67. Smooha, "Ethnicity and the Military in Israel," 19; Moshe Nativ, "IDF Manpower and Israeli Society," The Jerusalem Quarterly 32 (Summer 1984): 142.
68. Smooha, "Ethnicity and the Military in Israel," 19; Moshe Nativ, "IDF Manpower and Israeli Society," The Jerusalem Quarterly 32 (Summer 1984): 142.