Updating Israel's Security Strategy in an Era of Uncertainty

Abstract : During the first three decades since its establishment, the State of Israel struggled against tangible threats to its survival. In the culmination of three decades of wars, it seemed that there was a dramatic strategic turnabout in favor of Israel. The Israelis thought that the question of the existence of Israel, as a sovereign Jewish state in the Middle East was not in doubt anymore. It seemed that Israel's security concept had been implemented very successfully, so the threat to Israel's existence was gone. However, in recent years, the question of Israel's existence has resurfaced again. Basic assumptions of the Israeli security concept are not valid anymore. Powerful and unexpected processes have shaken the world, and continue to dramatically influence Israel's security condition. The purpose of this article is to try to bridge the gap that was created between the common Israel security policy and the complex new challenges that face Israel. The objectives of this document are to characterize the global and the regional processes that influence Israel s security and to provide recommendations to the policymakers. This article will focus on the period from the early 1970 s until 2020.