Lexington Books
Pages: 238
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-4985-4163-3 • Hardback • August 2017 • $117.00 • (£90.00)
978-1-4985-4164-0 • eBook • August 2017 • $105.50 • (£82.00)
Randall S. Geller is a visiting scholar at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies of Brandeis University, lecturer in the Liberal Arts Department at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and lecturer in history at Emmanuel College.
Introduction
Chapter 1: David Ben-Gurion and the Dilemma of Arab Service in the Israel Defense Forces
Chapter 2: The Background to and Formation of the Minorities Unit in 1948
Chapter 3: Druze and Jews after the Transition to Statehood, Fall 1948 to Early 1949
Chapter 4: The Druze and the State, 1949–53, Culminating in a Short-Term Druze Conscription Plan
Chapter 5: An Abortive Effort to Draft the Entire Arab Population, 1954
Chapter 6: The Druze Draft, 1956
Chapter 7: The Rise and Demise of a Christian Arab Unit
Chapter 8: Bedouin Service in the IDF, 1948–57
Chapter 9: The Recruitment and Conscription of the Circassian Community into the Israel Defense Forces, 1948–58
Chapter 10: Conclusion
This book conveys a unique perspective on the IDF to the English reader, showing the interplay of political and military concerns with democratic values and social behavior in the early stages of statehood. It sheds important light on the complicated relationship of Israel with its minorities, which is still very relevant today.
— Israel Studies Review
Minorities in the Israeli Military, 1948–58 is a unique and original prism to view the challenge Israel faced as it set out to become both a Jewish and democratic state. With exhaustive research into Arabic and Hebrew sources, Randall S. Geller illuminates the dilemmas of integrating non-Jewish minorities—Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Circassians—into the army of a Jewish state that faced the threat from brethren of its own citizens living across its borders. The successes and failures of integration during those early years impact Israel through to the present. This scrupulous and well-written assessment is essential for many courses in Israel studies and Middle Eastern studies as well for those engaged with understanding a complicated region.— S. Ilan Troen, Brandeis University
Israel’s future as a democratic state depends in large part on the successful integration of its non-Jewish citizens. Randall S. Geller’s study of the first decade of Israeli policies on conscripting Christian, Druze, and Muslim men into the IDF provides invaluable context for this essential issue. His ability to access Hebrew-language and other primary sources makes Minorities in the Israeli Military, 1948–58 a work of significant scholarship, providing insights that should be widely disseminated.— William F.S. Miles, Northeastern University
Randall S. Geller has written a remarkably interesting and lucid book on the conscription policies and practices of the newly emergent State of Israel towards its Arab minority during the first decade of statehood. Especially enlightening are his chapters on the role of conscription in serving Israeli foreign policy objectives, such as the relationship between conscripting Druze and creating divisions amongst Israel’s foes, the very practical difficulties of transforming the minority into an effective fighting force, and squaring these objectives within a normative framework that seemingly wanted to include the non-Jewish minorities into the State body politic. The reader is left to judge whether Israel missed a window of opportunity to fully integrate its Arab citizens.— Hillel Frisch, Bar-Ilan University