The_Israeli_Defense_Force

The Israeli Defense Force ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCE I. Overview: As Kenneth Waltz put it, states operate in a "self-help" system in which threats to national security are omnipresent. Small states, in particular, have difficulties meeting challenges from powerful aggressors, since such states are by definition limited in their ability to build sizable and well-equipped military machines. A few small states reconcile themselves to "defensive nihilism," the abandonment of hope to establish an effective defense. A few others, such as Switzerland and Sweden, adopt postures of self-reliance, attempting to meet security challenges without outside help. Other small states augment their military capability by allying themselves with other countries. The mobilization of other countries' resources in confronting external threats is termed external balancing. Alliances, however, can constrain a state's freedom of action. In many cases, a small state's room to maneuver is also constricted by the prevailing structure of the international system and its regional subsystem. Most small states attempt to devise strategic doctrines based on a mix of external and internal balancing in order to maximize military power and the freedom to use it. Israel is an example of such a small state. Israel always has aspired to self-reliance in its defense. Traditionally, Israeli air, force, aircraft, israeli, units, israel, service, combat, idf, first, 1988, navy, naval, forces, fleet, arab, although, about, three, reserve, number, military, fighter, during, defense, boats, war, training, syrian, percent, patrol, missile, june, conscripts, because, students