Israel’s Civil-Military Relations and Security Sector Reform

"Is the Israeli Model of Civil Military Relations (CMR) only for the Israelis? This is the focal question and intellectual challenge of this important and pioneering book that deals with one of the most unsuccessful lasting efforts of the international community in state building operations and endeavours. The author provides a very comprehensive overview about the idea of security sector reform (SSR) and by using the Israel CMR model, described and analysed in an impressive manner, tries to build a doable model for an alternative approach to SSR. The suggested alternative is counter-intuitive to the international common sense based on noble norms and principles from the normative and theoretical world of Western CMR that inspires the SSR conducted by the international community and leading Western countries and therefore, enlarges the theoretical scope and significantly contributes fresh and innovative scholarly thoughts."

Kobi Michael, Senior Researcher and Editor-in-Chief of Strategic Assessment at the INSS-Tel-Aviv University

"This interesting and important book stands at the cutting-edge of academic research on civil - military relations and on security sector reform by analyzing the unique case of Israel. Whilst the conventional approach to democratic systems recommends keeping the military and civil elements of society separate, in Israel symbiotic relationship exists between the military, the civil government and civilian society. The military is an embedded part of society, and civilian society is willing to tolerate a high level of intrusion of the military both in politics and in everyday life. The porous boundaries of the 'Transactional Model' did not endanger Israeli democracy but rather reduced the risk of a military takeover. By permitting the head of the armed forces to operate within the political sphere, the chance of direct military intervention in government was reduced. Following a detailed description of the Israeli model, the author recommends states that wish to introduce successful defense reforms and re-establish themselves in post-conflict situations to adopt some elements of the Israeli unique model."

Yoram Peri, Prof. Emeritus, Former Kay Chair and Director of the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland

"Ian Westerman’s longitudinal analysis of Israel’s defence reforms offers a significant and timely contribution to international security scholarship. The work artfully and innovatively uses principles of civil military relations to evaluate the country’s broader experience of security sector reform (SSR). This not only brings an important conceptual contribution to the relatively underdeveloped area of SSR, but also an SSR experience of a geo-strategically important, middle-income country. Based on his years of living in the country, the analysis is meticulously informed by a wide range of Israeli voices. A highly recommended read."

Ann Fitz-Gerald,Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada, Professor of International Security in Wilfrid Laurier University’s Political Science Department