Israeli Militarism Reconsidered Reframing the Independence Day Parade

Adi Sherzer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article seeks to challenge conventional arguments about Israel’s ‘cultural militarism’ through a comparative analysis of Independence Day parades of the 1950s. Using media reports, newsreels, and archival documentation, it examines the parades and compares them to other cases from around the world. The discussion focuses on three features of the Israeli parades: the widespread civil criticism of the place of the military in Independence Day celebrations; the role of the crowds and their proximity to the marchers; and the partly militaristic character of the parades themselves. While the article does not deny the obvious militaristic connotations of soldiers marching in the streets, it stresses the unique relationship between the armed forces and society in Israel and argues that militarism alone is not a sufficient analytic framework for analyzing Israeli society.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)87-106
Number of pages20
JournalIsrael Studies Review
Volume36
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. Association for Israel Studies

Keywords

  • Baruch Kimmerling
  • Independence Day
  • civil society
  • mamlakhtiyut
  • militarism
  • military parades

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