Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)

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Pride and Dissent in the Israeli Military

July 12, 2004 | Brig.-Gen. Gershon HaCohen

As a commander of IDF combat units, I have never met with even one incidence of refusal to obey orders or lack of motivation. The main problem is sometimes exactly the opposite - my troops suffer from overmotivation. Today, regular units do not devote the same amount of time to training as they did five or ten years ago. They are too busy getting experience in the Gaza Strip and in Judea and Samaria on daily missions.

What Really Happened in Jenin?

May 2, 2002

The Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank was the scene of some of the harshest fighting during Israel's "Defensive Shield" operation. It contained an extensive military infrastructure for terrorist operations against Israel that involved all of the main Palestinian terrorist groups: Islamic Jihad, Fatah, and Hamas. Since October 2000, Jenin-based terrorist networks were responsible for 28 attempted suicide attacks against Israel, of which 23 were actually executed. It is no wonder that in a captured Fatah document (http://www.idf.il/english/news/jenin.stm) the Palestinians themselves call Jenin "the martyrs' (meaning suicide bombers) capital" -- as-simat al-istashidin.