Vision to Reality: The Reut Blog

Speaking before the opening of a two-day terrorism forum in Jerusalem, former US Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff warned that Hizbollah “makes Al Qaeda look like a minor league team…Hizbullah shows what an ideologically driven terrorist organization can become when it evolves into an army and a political party and gains a deeply embedded degree of control within a state, as Hizbullah has done in Lebanon’s democratic infrastructure.”

While fighting effectively against guerilla / terrorist groups is essential for Israel, the country has recently found it difficult to utilize its military advantage against such heavily armed non-state groups such as Hizbullah and Hamas. In light of the perception that Israel’s traditional ‘use of force’ doctrine – which focused on firepower and the quick maneuverability of infantry and tanks – was ineffective, the IDF developed a new military strategy called the Dahiyah Doctrine that focuses on using disproportionate air power and artillery.

As part of its project of mapping Israel’s National Security Concept, the Reut Institute’s Political-Security Team has written a concept paper detailing this strategy.

Click here to read more about the Dahiyah Doctrine.