Search

The 9/11 hijackers were armed with mere utility knives – relatively innocuous tools that led to terror attacks the aftershocks of which are still felt today. The 'utility knife effect' refers to seemingly unassuming tactical operations deployed in direct action missions, with far-reaching results. Yair Ansbacher and Ron Schleifer highlight the important role special operations forces can play in combating terrorist activity and the changes the West needs to make to enable them to be successful.◼ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The start of the twenty-first century saw many changes in the way war was being conducted. Alongside war at sea, in the air, and on land, there is now psychological warfare (referred to as psywar), which has proven to be an extremely powerful military dimension. The power of psychological warfare is a result of the revolution in information and communication in the first years of the current century: the Internet, instant global communications, smartphones, and social media. All these channels have become arenas for warfare and powerful influencers on leaders, militaries, and entire populations. Historically, democracies have been reticent about employing psychological warfare for a number of reasons, but in recent years, they have been unable to ignore its existence and have increasingly been making use of it. However, in contrast with other forms of warfare for which there are international ethical rules, there is no ethical regulation of psychological warfare. This article assesses the challenges and dilemmas facing democratic countries in their use of psychological warfare and for the first time offers proposals for ethical rules toward that end by way of an Israeli test case: the long-term use of psychological warfare by the Israel Defense Forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the violent clashes between Hamas and Israel along the Gaza Fence (30 March 2018–27 December 2019) from a psychological operations (PSYOP) perspective. It shows how Hamas managed, through a skilful combination of mass riots, media manipulation, and quick adaptation to changing circumstances to subvert the strategic priorities of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), wear down Israeli morale, and erode Israel's sovereignty in its southern region – all this while deterring Israel from launching a large-scale military operation in Gaza. As such, the Gaza Fence clashes provide an example of a PSYOP-based strategy that can be applied to other border conflict zones, such as Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Islamist insurrections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Troops with special skills have typically played strategic and tactical roles as valuable components of conventional military organizations. The start of World War II marked a change, wherein special forces (SF, as they were referred to in Britain, and special operational forces [SOF] in the United States) were separated and played roles distinct from conventional military forces. Recently, Finlan (2019) advanced the notion that since the start of World War II, three unique, punctuated ages of SOF have existed, reflecting various political-military needs and realities. First-age SOF were largely restricted to operations behind enemy lines, aiding the conventional forces. Second-age SOF fought in proxy wars, with and against guerrilla forces, and engaged in aiding political ends when nuclear realities rendered direct military confrontations between world powers too risky to contemplate. The advent of extremist ideology-related terrorism initiated a rethinking of the role of SOF and their initial mobilization to combat this growing threat. Third-age SOF became invaluable in the global fight against terrorism. This paper advances this theory by further delineating differences between the three ages and providing in-depth evidence supporting the soundness of the construct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian media frequently wrote about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (1996–99, 2009–21), analysing his role in Middle Eastern affairs, especially with regard to Palestinian-Israeli relations, the Syrian civil war, and the Iranian nuclear programme. Examining Netanyahu's image in the Russian press is crucial not only for understanding the political priorities of twenty-first-century Russian media but also for investigating Moscow's role in international politics given its keen interest in the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commission of inquiry into the events of military engagement in Lebanon in 2006 asserted that Israeli special forces were improperly deployed during the Second Lebanon War. In this article, Yair Ansbacher and Ron Schleifer explore why the Israeli special operations forces' (SOF) contribution to campaigns have been marginal, using the 2003 US deployment of SOF in Iraq as a point of comparison. They aim to identify and define the most effective deployment modes of modern SOF in war, and explain the changes that Israeli SOF must undergo to enhance future performance.◼ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs that the Israel–Russia relations refers to the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries, Israel and Russia. Topics include the two countries have signed twenty intergovernmental agreements; Russian–Israeli relations are based on a mutual interest: to bring peace to the Middle East; and Russia's policy toward Iran has always been in conflict with that of Israel.

The Middle East is one of the 'unreliable links' in the international security system. This became apparent once Iran began developing its nuclear program decades ago, and in recent years, the program has reinforced the challenges to international security. The steps taken by the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as US sanctions have not yet achieved positive results. Although Russia formally supported these sanctions, its political interests and attitude to Iran differ significantly from that of the United States and its allies. Russia seeks to consolidate its position in the region, challenging American policies. This article investigates political contradictions regarding the implementation of Iran's nuclear strategy and observes the position of the Russian print media as a source of information. Despite the active development of online news in Russia, print media continue serving as a popular information source in the country. This holds especially true for local officials, who are responsible for making government decisions, thus determining our increased interest in these forms of media. The Russian press, when covering the 'Iranian nuclear issue,' do not serve as unbiased sources of information, but suggest propaganda influence, albeit flavored with thorough knowledge of the political situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The content of mass information in any society is closely linked to the patterns of its political development. A typical example of this concerns the modern Russian media, which have been influenced particularly by their embeddedness with the authorities. Indeed, the Russian media have served as the mouthpiece of the country's political leaders, and this fact has left a significant imprint on media coverage. To understand the symbiotic relationship between Russian political leaders and media, this article focuses on the Syrian Civil War, which is currently one of the most important issues on the international political agenda. The Russian government's role in the conflict over the last several years has affected the Russian media's tremendous interest in this topic. Nonetheless, Moscow's participation in the war was determined uniquely by how the communication sphere related the conflict to its audience so that its involvement in the Syrian imbroglio was not an objective reflection of reality. Guided by the political interests of the authorities, the Russian media created an emotionally oriented story, which intended to advance an extremely positive interpretation of Russia's role in this conflict in the minds of the audience. Therefore, in terms of propaganda, these media acted not as "pure" promoters of the state's will, but rather as its "interpreters." This study highlights how leading Russian publications approach this agenda and the consequences this fact has for the Kremlin's political priorities. The authors come to a definite conclusion regarding Russian media's unconditional dependence on the political priorities of modern Russian society. It was crucial for the Kremlin that the media present a positive view of Moscow's involvement in the conflict given that Russia's military presence in Syria caused a very controversial reaction throughout the world and led to increased tensions and contentious disputation between Russia and many Western countries. Therefore, the Kremlin needed to justify its policies and did so through manipulating the Russian public by means of a large-scale propaganda campaign conducted through the Russian media. This phenomenon is pivotal to understand not only the case of Russia's involvement in Syria but also contemporary international media development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the image of the Arab in Israeli literature to the image of the enemy in Soviet literature. Focusing mainly on texts that describe the 1948 War of Independence written by Israeli authors of the so-called Palmah generation, it evaluates literary canons and their structures, namely the characters and plots. It finds a rare case of contact without influence whereby the massive presence of translated Russian works in Israeli cultural and literary life left little impact on original Hebrew literature of the time as far as the enemy's image is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the use of sport in the formation of an Israeli cultural (multi-ethnic) identity and its historical and contemporary place in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. The power of sporting events lies in the fact that the teams represent for their fans an ideology beyond the game itself. Supporting a sports team is a primary form of identity for many people. Highly salient sporting events, which are supercharged with emotion and garner eager interest, are also a venue for achieving political objectives on the local, national, and international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the Palestinian/Arab two-step strategy in taking over the Middle East discourse on Western (mainly American and British) campuses in the past five decades. During this period, the main theme became “the occupied Palestinian territories” or “The Occupation.” The real objective, though, was and is the de-legitimization of the idea of Jewish statehood. The methodology is based on 150 interviews with Jewish activists who studied or worked on campuses in Europe and the United States during the last thirty-five years. After presenting a chronological survey and then analyzing the strategy’s operational techniques – goals, messages and techniques – the article suggests counter-responses for Israel and presents an outline for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is really no significant difference between the various forms of mass persuasion methods, though the terminology used may vary. Analyzing basic elements of political marketing and psychological operations (PSYOP)—beyond the basics of audience/message/channel—shows a similarity of techniques and procedures. An analysis of the PSYOP campaign of the Islamic organization Hamas against Israel in the past decade demonstrates that there is a striking similarity between political marketing and PSYOP (formerly known as “propaganda”). This is not mere theoretical hairsplitting; it is an important understanding that democracies should pay careful attention to when they contemplate their survival strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented to a special issue on intellectuals and terrorism, which discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the relationship between Jewish tradition and radical ideology, existential philosophy, and the Lehi terror group in Palestine.

The 2006 War between Israel and Hezbollah had a significant component of PSYOP. For the first time in its military history Israel deployed PSYOP as an inseparable part of its military operations. The performance of the PSYOP unit was less than satisfactory due to organizational factors and the general conduct of the war itself. This article analyzes the goals, the themes, and the delivery channels used throughout the PSYOP campaign. An attempt is made to answer the key question of whether this effort was effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How could a few hundred guerrillas force their will on a regional power? The struggle of Hezbollah against Israel is a striking case study of applying psychological warfare techniques, which can provide an explanation to the above question as well as to similar conflicts against radical Islam. The article outlines the structure of a PSYOP plan adopted by Hezbollah, details their messages to the selected target audiences, means of their delivery, and the unique doctrine developed and executed, which eventually led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracies generally abstain from using psychological operations (PSYOP) as they perceive propaganda to be a totalitarian political tool. Whilst in (conventional) war they use it reluctantly, in small wars they hardly make use of it at all. The nature of small wars makes their handling more difficult for a democracy because it does not undergo the psychological process of mobilization. In contrast, the insurgents make vast use of PSYOP as they realize that the media can be easily exploited through the public's thirst for information. This essay outlines the weakness of democracies in their handling of the struggle over the hearts and minds of the public and proposes changes within democracies to employ effectively psychological warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]