For a long while, Israel has been witnessing an inconceivable contradiction between the fighting spirit of its soldiers and commanders in the field and the image the IDF’s senior command portrays in the television studios. While the fighters and commanders in the field – regular army and reservists alike – speak about decisive victories in every encounter with the enemy and of the feasibility of the objectives of the war, the nation watches on the evening TV news a deflated military leadership that conveys stagnation and despondency. The famous and so often discussed “Concept” that the military had adopted decades ago, still remains a conviction among a significant tier of senior commanders in Israel’s security establishment, as if October 7 had never happened.
There is a clear reason for this and its roots originated years ago.
The concept embedded deep in the IDF modus operandi
For many years now, the IDF senior command has been “syphoned” through various well-sponsored foundations, which offer the army’s commanders leadership programs in collaboration with academic institutes in the US. These institutes hold a very specific world view, which is similar to that at the foundation of the “Concept”. The inculcation of these misguided modes of thought runs deep in the military command, and is done at a long-term and significant investment. The result: a backbone of high command, which cannot seem to depart from the paradigms that might have been true up to the quagmire that had bread October 7th.
“As we’ve been witnessing over the past months, the top command often gives off a lackluster and stagnant air, while the soldiers in the field exude conviction in the justness of their mission and the prowess of the army”, says Ronit Farkash, head of Resource Development and Partnership at the IDSF HaBithonistim movement. “This dissonance underscores the crucial imperative of raising a new generation of commanders, such that has conviction, connected to the reality on the ground and aware of the challenges in the field; That is driven by a sense of mission to ensure the security of Israel – not just for the next year or two – but for generations to come. If we do not embark on this endeavor now, we’ll see the year 2050 plagued by that same Concept and as a result – by more of the same problems”.
From the onset, it was evident to the IDSF HaBithonistim movement that it must include an educational effort in its activity, if it wishes to shape the future generation of soldiers and citizens in Israel. Indeed, over the past several years, the movement had been undertaking prolific activity in the field of education, wherein it conducts lectures and excursions for high-school students, pre-military programs and higher education institutes. The October 7 attack had heightened the urgency of accelerating this activity. Thus the initiative was born for a new pre-military leadership program, that would be governed by the values of Zionism, Jewish nationalism and identity and would seek to deepen its participants conviction in the justness of the path of Israel, and instill in them a clear national security perception such that places the security of Israel – and that alone – at the top of its priorities.
“I’ll give you a simple example that illustrates why our pre-military program is so unique”, says Brigadier General (res.) Amir Avivi, founder and chairman of the IDSF HaBithonistim movement. “The underlying question here is whether peace is an end to itself or a means for something else. Those who view Israel’s security for generations to come as the end all, will regard peace accords as a means for achieving security in Israel, and any henceforth agreement will be examined through that prism”. Avivi, who accurately foresaw the events of October 7, delineated at the time, in no uncertain terms, the misguided nature of the “Concept” and demanded an overhaul of Israel’s security strategy, unwilling to witness another calamity the likes of what the country had just been through. “Deterrence and forewarning are basic concepts of Israel’s security strategy. Unfortunately, these have become irrelevant many years ago”, Avivi says. “Until we form a command backbone which deeply understands this – we shall remain targets for more events the likes of October 7”.
Introducing something new: the unique characteristics of the IDSF HaBithonistim pre-military leadership program
In 1951, David Ben-Gurion wrote an essay on “the purpose of the [intellectual] spirit and the pioneering enterprise in Israel”, in which he ties the love of Israel to the protection of the country, and the national values to the values of security. This connection had lost ground over the years and sadly, most educational institutes continue to contribute to this decline. Many schools and pre-military programs place emphasis on universal progressive values at the expense of the national, Zionist and Jewish values that were unquestionable and nonnegotiable for the Ben-Gurion generation, but are now sadly all but obsolete. If the commanding echelon of the army continues in this vein, it is safe to assume that within a mere two decades Israel’s military leadership will be even more detached from the reality on the ground than they are presently, and the little that still exists from Ben-Gurion’s vision will have been relegated to the dustbin of history.
The foundation of the new pre-military program, planned to be located in the Gaza envelope area, is the first step in tacking the ideology ship back to its original course.
The IDSF HaBithonistim movement had decided to allocate its resources and efforts to the one-year preparatory program, with the understanding that this is a period in the participants’ lives that has its own unique characteristics. “There is no other point in time in which we could meet these young people for an entire year and afford them an entire toolkit of knowledge and content”, Avivi explains. “Moreover, this is a critical year of their lives. These young men and woman are on the verge of enlistment; thus we have an opportunity to influence their character and values as soldiers and commanders to be”.
There are more than a few pre-military programs that have been operating in Israel for the past decades, however, the IDSF HaBithonistim movement is determined to imbue this seemingly stagnant arena with new life. The inspiration for this model is the IDF Nachal Brigade, founded by David Ben-Gurion and tasked with combining infantry military service with the establishment of new agricultural communities across the country. Similarly to the nucleus Nachal communities in the early years of the State of Israel, the IDSF HaBithonistim pre-military programs will support the establishment of new communities, aid agriculture, construction and security in these communities ,and maintain an active alumni community.
Currently, the IDSF HaBithonistim is engaged in executing the pre-military program vision. It is to be located in the agricultural community of Tkuma near the Gaza border and will be called The Tkuma Pre-Military Program. The decision to place the program in this community is far from coincidental, as alongside the cultivation of values of Zionism and national security, one of the objectives of the program is to help rehabilitate that community and the entire Gaza envelope communities that were ravaged by the October 7 attack. The IDSF HaBithonistim plans to establish additional programs in conflict areas, namely the Gaza envelope area and along the northern border with Lebanon. Similarly to other pre-military programs, the IDSF HaBithonistim program will include varied content such as history, bible, Zionism, the history of Israel’s wars, alongside activities designed to prepare the participants for their upcoming military service, physical training and excursions to sites of historical and national importance across Israel. However, Avivi emphasizes that this specific program offers a new kind of added value. “Our pre-military program will promote specific values and ideology, and a sound national security doctrine, all which are key to forming the future military command, so that it has the capabilities to ensure Israel’s security and to ensure Israel prevails on future battlefields”, determines Avivi. “But beyond all that, the program participants will engage in the rehabilitation and reinforcement of the Tkuma community through volunteer activity in the community, including agricultural labor, military protection, auxiliary educational activity and assistance to the community’s senior citizens. We aim to bond between the young participants and the Tkuma community and its values in hopes that the day will come when they choose to return to that community and raise their families there”.
As always, the IDSF HaBithonistim movement strives to operate at a large scale in order to drive true change, and is not limiting its pre-military program to the Tkuma area. More such programs are slated for the near future across the country.
Another of the IDSF HaBithonistim movement’s visions is to found a youth movement in the spirit of its ideology. “The youth movements of today fall very short when it comes to instilling Zionist ideology. Israel’s youth is in dire need of a new youth movement that will cultivate these values”, explains Avivi. This is more than a reverie – it is supported by the findings of a recent new study, conducted by the IDSF HaBithonistim, as part of its quarterly IDSF HaBithonistim Social Index, according to which 54% of the Jews in Israel believe that Israel needs a new youth movement that operates under the banner of Zionism and national security.
Establishing the Pre-Military Program Demands Public Support
The foundation of such a program is a costly endeavor. The Ministry of Defense allocates funds for pre-military programs only in their third year of operation, meaning that the first two years are self-funded. The estimated operational costs per year of such a program is some 1.2 million shekels (323,000 dollars). This is on top of initial investments for construction of the campus, dormitories and safety bunkers demanded by the proximity to the border.
In order to procure the needed funds, the IDSF HaBithonistim has launched a crowdfunding campaign, which offers an opportunity to anyone who identifies with the ideology and values of the IDSF HaBithonistim to be part of the vision and change by donating towards the foundation of the pre-military program.
“We are now at war for the long-run, and nothing is more important right now than cultivating the IDF’s new generation of soldiers and commanders”, emphasizes Avivi. “This is nothing less than an existential necessity for Israel and Jews around the world. We see the shortcomings of the current leadership of Israel’s military, and we feel it is our responsibility to ensure that the next command backbone will manifest a crucial paradigm shift such that has an unbreakable bound with, and is motivated by the Zionist ethos and our Jewish heritage, upholding a decisive and clear doctrine of national security, and fully acknowledging that the settlement enterprise is a power multiplier for the country’s security; a command that draws clear, unnegotiable lines in the sand and is not deterred from voicing its professional opinion even if it negates current policies or does not fall in line with political considerations; a command that places Israel’s security above all else”.
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