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The Israeli Security Policy: Changes and Continuities A THE ISRAELI SECURITY POLICY: CHANGES AND CONTINUITIES A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ZEYNEP CİVCİK A PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DECEMBER 2004 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences ___________________ Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ___________________ Prof. Dr. Atila Eralp Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ____________________ Assoc. Prof. Meliha Altunışık Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı ______________________ Assoc. Prof. Meliha Altunışık ______________________ Assoc. Prof. Çağrı Erhan ______________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Zeynep Civcik Signature : iii ABSTRACT CHANGES AND CONTINUITIES IN ISRAELI SECURITY POLICY Civcik, Zeynep M. Sc., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık December 2004, 163 pages The objective of this thesis is to analyze the changes in Israeli security policy. The thesis consists of four main parts. In the first part, the factors influencing the formation of Israeli security policy such as history, religion, ideology and threat perceptions are examined. Israeli military doctrine and its offensive, defensive and deterrence strategies are identified as the most important subcomponents of the security policy. The following part analyzes the changes and continuities in Israeli threat perceptions and the implementation of the military doctrine during and after the six main wars of the War of Independence, the war against Egypt in 1956, the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War and the War in Lebanon in 1982. In the third part, the changes in Israeli security policy during 1990s are scrutinized. With the peace process, Israel’s existential threat perception decreased but new threat perceptions of terrorism and conventional and nuclear military buildup in the region emerged; therefore security was redefined by the Israeli political and military decision-makers. In the last part the impact of the collapse of peace process and Sharon’s coming to power on Israeli security policy is analyzed. Sharon’s period can be defined by offensive security strategies aiming at preventing terror which has been the top security problem since the Al Aqsa Intifada. As a result, this thesis argues that Israeli security policy did not indicate significant changes until 1990s, however during 1990s Israeli security situation and security policy changed as a response to the regional and international developments. Post- 2000 period witnessed changes as well with Sharon’s returning to offensive strategies. iv Key words: Israeli security policy, Sharon’s security policy, Israel’s military doctrine, Israel’s threat perceptions, terrorism in Israel v ÖZ İSRAİL’İN GÜVENLİK POLİTİKALARINDAKİ DEĞİŞİMLER VE SÜREKLİLİKLER Civcik, Zeynep Yüksek Lisans, Uluslararası İlişkiler Anabilim Dalı Tez Yöneticisi: Doçent Dr. Meliha Altunışık Aralık 2004, 163 sayfa Bu çalışmanın amacı, İsrail’in güvenlik politikasındaki değişimleri analiz etmektir. Buna göre tez dört ana bölümden oluşmaktadır. Tarih, din, ideoloji ve tehdit algıları gibi İsrail’in güvenlik politikasının oluşturulmasını etkileyen faktörler birinci bölümde ele alınmıştır. Güvenlik politikasının en önemli tamamlayıcısı olan İsrail’in askeri doktrininin oluşmasında yer alan etkenler ve bu doktrinin saldırgan, savunmacı ve caydırıcı stratejileri de yine bu bölümde incelenmiştir. Bir sonraki bölüm Bağımsızlık Savaşı, 1956 Mısır’la Savaş, Altı Gün Savaşı, Yıprandırma Savaşı ve 1982 Lübnan Savaşı süresince ve sonrasında tehdit algılarının nasıl değiştigini ve askeri doktrinin nasıl uygulandığını analiz etmektedir. Üçüncü bölümde 1990lar boyunca İsrail’in güvenlik politikalarındaki değişimler derinlemesine incelenmiştir. Barış süreci ile İsrail’in varlığına yönelik tehdit algıları azalmış ama terör, bölgede artan konvansiyonel ve nükleer silahlanma ile farklı tehdit algıları güçlenmiştir. Bu yüzden, İsrailli siyasi ve askeri karar alıcılar güvenliği yeniden tanımlamışlardır. Son bölümde barış sürecinin çökmesi ve Sharon’un iktidara gelmesinin İsrail’in güvenlik politikasına etkisi ele alınmıştır. Sharon dönemi, Al Aqsa Intifada’sından sonra en önemli güvenlik problemi olan terörün engellenmesini amaçlayan saldırgan güvenlik stratejileriyle tanımlanabilir. Sonuç olarak bu tez, İsrail’in güvenlik politikalarının 1990lara kadar önemli değişimler göstermediğini ama 1990lar boyunca önemli değişimler geçirdigini iddia etmektedir. 2000 sonrası dönem ise Sharon’un tekrar saldırgan stratejilere yönelmesiyle yine değişimlere tanıklık etti. vi Anahtar kelimeler: İsrail’in güvenlik politikaları, Sharon’un güvenlik politikaları, İsrail’in Askeri Doktrini, İsrail’in tehdit algıları, İsrail’de terör. vii Sevgili Aileme, Koşulsuz sevgileri ve destekleri için... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is one of the most important part of my thesis aince it gives the opportunity to thank everybody without whose support, writing this thesis would be painful. First of all I would like to sincerely thank my thesis supervisor Meliha Altunışık for her invaluable comments and advices. Her support and help enhanced my self- confidence and motivated me a lot. Not only her academic advices, but also her friendly attitudes in general made me feel relaxed in that hard process. I want to express my acknowledgements to my thesis committee, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı ve Associate Prof. Çağrı Erhan for their encouragement and positive motivation. I cannot find the right words to express my gratitude to my family. My mother and father have supported me in any case for 26 years. Although they were scared of the terrorist attacks, they encouraged me to go to Israel so as to make reserach for my thesis. My sister Yasemin, my brother Onur, my aunts, my uncle and my cousins belived me more than I did and indicated their backing whenever necessary. Thank you all for your unconditional love and spur. My best friends Serah and Utku: Without your long e-mails and telephone calls my life in Israel would be boring and lonely. Thanks so much for your friendship for years, for sharing your life with me and for motivating me to write a good thesis. Serah deserves special thanks for her efforts in finding the most suitable words in expressing my thoughts better in the conclusion part. This thesis would not have been written without the huge backing of my friends in Israel. My roommate – my Israeli sister – Anna Tunkel: your help in the dorms, at the university and library, in practicing my Hebrew, discussing my thesis and Israeli politics in general, studying, cooking and traveling made me live the best experience of my life while writing this thesis. Every minute in Israel was easier with your support. Thanks, many many thanks shmanmana...You also introduced the most khamud ve khamuda friends in Israel Gil and Efrat with whom I had great ix time (and great food of course) in Israel. Toda raba all shmanmanim for listening to all my complaints about not studying much and for indicating your belief in my success. My dear ulpan friends Sonja and Jenny deserve special thanks as well for sharing my stress when I could not study enough and for convincing me that I did my best. I never hesitate to ask for your help whenever I needed and it was such a happiness to know that you would be always with me. I want to express my gratitude to Jenny and Ari Barbalat for proofreading my thesis despite their hectic programs. Thanks so much. My very special thanks go to very nice and warm Kent family in Tel-Aviv. Estella, Nelson, Viki, Rıfat, Selin, Sheila and especially you Dalya never left me alone and be my family in Israel. Your help, support and closeness were invaluable for me. Thank you so much. My friends working in the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv, Barbaros and Korhan also supported and helped me in those stressful days a lot. Thank you both for your sincerity and backing. Barbaros, I appriciate you for your extra help in finding sources and documents for my studies and in solving my problems there... I want to express my acknowledgement to all my friends at the department, but especially Inan, Omur and Ozlem. I do not know how to thank because without your guidance it would be much harder. You did not give only academic but also moral support in this long process and relieved my stress. You helped me a lot and found solutions to my problems; shortly you shared my load everyday. Thank you so much. And as a person who has serious problems with using the computer, I could not have typed my thesis without Cağrı’s help. Thanks a lot.... x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ...........................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ ..............................................................................................................................
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