Is Civil Defense the Way to Defeat the 'Knife Intifada'?

Has the paradigm of war shifted? How can Israel fight 'lone wolves'? The answer, says a former MK, is empowering Israeli citizens themselves.

Since the current so-called "wave of terror" began last year, analysts, politicians and security experts alike have struggled to define the new phase of Arab violence buffeting Israel.

The problem to a great degree lies in the difficulty observers have in conceptualizing the ongoing violence within conventional paradigms. The State of Israel has long since moved on from the paradigm of conventional warfare it fought during the first four decades of its existence - but even the paradigm of organized terrorism, which came to a height in the Second Intifada and continued to bubble for years since, no longer appears relevant in the face of what has been inadequately defined as the "Intifada of the knives."

That, says one security expert and former Knesset Member, is because such paradigms are indeed no longer relevant - and to defeat it, Israel's basic security doctrine must undergo a radical shift.

Yoni Chetboun, a one-time Jewish Home party MK and member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has had a distinguished military career.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva shortly after recent training, Chetboun described how it had struck him that the security establishment was entering a new phase of warfare without even knowing it - one which brought individual citizens to the front line not just as victims, but as active players in the struggle for their own security.

"During my three months training to be a Battalion Commander, I met some of the strongest, most inspiring people in Israel - professionals in their 40s who leave their work for months on end, from hi tech, public positions, and senior management, to help command the Israel Defense Forces.

Keep reading..