David Ben-Gurion and the dilemma of Arab service in the Israel Defense Forces -- The background to and formation of the Minorities Unit in 1948 -- Druze and Jews after the transition to statehood, fall 1948 to early 1949 -- The Druze and the state, 1949-53, culminating in a short-term Druze conscription plan -- An abortive effort to draft the entire Arab population, 1954 -- The Druze draft, 1956 -- The rise and demise of a Christian Arab unit -- Bedouin service in the IDF, 1948-57 -- The recruitment and conscription of the Circassian community into the Israel Defense forces, 1948-58.
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This study examines majority-minority relations in Israel during the state's formative decade through the prism of its military forces. It analyzes how the leadership balanced its disparate commitments and argues that the state's social, political, and strategic decisions regarding non-Jewish minorities reverberate to the present.