Israel’s struggle against Hamas : strategic culture, adaptation and war

Abstract

The PhD research, 'Israel’s Struggle Against Hamas', studies the impact of cultural factors on the Israeli counterinsurgency (COIN) vis-a-vis Hamas in the period comprised between 1987 and 2005, analyzing to what extent the characteristic traits of the Israeli approach to military affairs account for the shaping of a distinct 'way of war' in countering the Islamic Resistance Movement's insurgency. Inquiring into the characteristic features of the Israeli approach, the research concludes that the role of strategic culture as an intervening variable is crucial in explaining either the outcome of the Israeli COIN in the period 1987 and 2005 and the very pattern of adaptation of the Israeli armed forces to the challenges of insurgency warfare. In fact, while peculiar features of the Israeli way of war such as the intense focus on technology and drive for tactical action fostered adaptation to 'how' the enemies were fighting, relative neglect of the non-military aspects of COIN, scarce intellectual interest for foreign experiences and even for COIN theory proved detrimental to a nuanced understanding of 'why' they had chosen to fight in that specific way, rendering much more complex for Israel to adapt accordingly.