Essay On Military Conscription In Israel

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Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of men or women into the armed forces. Founded in 1948, Israel is a country that is situated in the Middle East and actively enforces military conscription for both men and women. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is given authority by the state to draft any Israeli citizen or permanent resident who is above the age of 18. Utilising the case study of Israel, this essay will argue that military conscription is both necessary and desirable for the survival of the state of Israel.
In order to understand why conscription is both necessary and desirable in Israel, it is imperative to understand Realism. Realism is a theory that has a pessimistic view of society. Realists believe in a few basic facts. Firstly, humans are inherently selfish and power maximizing. According to Thomas Hobbes, this is the reason people subject themselves to the state. The state is able to organize itself for war, thus being able to provide domestic security (Georg Sørensen, …show more content…

Liberals believe that humans are able to collaborate and work together in cooperative social action, that international relations are not inherently conflictual and can be solved through other means (Georg Sørensen, R. H, 2007, 98) According to Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye there are increasing complex and dense mutually beneficial transnational ties that have developed between countries due to a high level of institutionalization (Georg Sørensen, R. H, 2007, 110). This complex interdependence means countries are now interdependent on each other on an unprecedented and increasing scale (Georg Sørensen, R. H, 2007, 110). Liberalists would therefore argue that Israel’s conscription policy would be increasingly unnecessary and undesirable. According to Liberalists, war would become a distant possibility in the future due to the increasing number of interdependent ties between Israel and its