Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- PART I
- PART II
- PART III
- 10 The Israeli War in Lebanon
- 11 Israeli Instrumental Dependence and Its Consequences
- 12 The Development of a Normative Difference in Israel, and Its Consequences
- 13 The Israeli Struggle to Contain the Growth of the Normative Gap and the Rise of the “Democratic Agenda”
- 14 Political Relevance and Its Consequences in Israel
- PART IV
- Postscript
- Bibliography
- Index
12 - The Development of a Normative Difference in Israel, and Its Consequences
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- PART I
- PART II
- PART III
- 10 The Israeli War in Lebanon
- 11 Israeli Instrumental Dependence and Its Consequences
- 12 The Development of a Normative Difference in Israel, and Its Consequences
- 13 The Israeli Struggle to Contain the Growth of the Normative Gap and the Rise of the “Democratic Agenda”
- 14 Political Relevance and Its Consequences in Israel
- PART IV
- Postscript
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The Israeli opposition to the Lebanon war did not revolve around a single issue, nor was it consistent in content and emphasis throughout the war. As was the case with the French war in Algeria – and as is perhaps often the case with significant social protest against war – several ideological camps opposed the war, each guided by its own agenda. Still, the Israeli opposition to the Lebanon war was rather homogeneous, embracing mostly people from what can be defined as a non-radical soft left. The majority of the opposition to the Lebanon war was led by, or identified most clearly with, the agenda of the Peace Now movement. Moreover, as the agenda of this constituency was rather consistent, and the time frame of the events rather short, it is easy to follow the development of protest, and identify, define, and classify its key themes with relative clarity.
The Utilitarian Debate about the Human Cost of War
It is clear that the single most important theme of the anti-war campaign, which was responsible for the initial mobilization of Israelis against the Lebanon war, was the rate of IDF casualties. The fact that casualties had a great social impact is far from trivial. Before the Lebanon war, the human cost of Israeli wars hardly ever divided the Israeli public or raised the question of whether a war itself was worthwhile.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- How Democracies Lose Small WarsState, Society, and the Failures of France in Algeria, Israel in Lebanon, and the United States in Vietnam, pp. 177 - 193Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003