Israel’s history shapes how it wages war

About this episode

The episode explores how Israel's historical context and self-image influence its military actions today.

In around ten minutes on April 8, the Israeli military hit more than 100 targets across Lebanon. Israel called the attack Operation Eternal Darkness and said it struck Hezbollah command and control centres. The Lebanese government said at least 300 people were killed and 1,000 injured. Israel has a powerful and lethal army, and it’s been defending itself against attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. But why has it chosen such brutal military aggression? One historian, Yaron Peleg , believes the answer to this question lies in the early days of Zionism in the 19th century, when many Jews who arrived in Palestine were fleeing antisemitism in Europe. In defiance, they began a cultural revolution, emphasising military strength and honouring Biblical Jewish heroes. But in the wake of the Holocaust, Peleg, who is a professor of modern Hebrew studies at the University of Cambridge in the UK, thinks Israel’s view of itself began to change. He tracks how he sees Israel’s self‑image changed from self‑reliance to aggressive militarism, and how that history helps to explain the way it wages war today. This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and the executive producer was Gemma Ware…

People in this episode

Host: Gemma Ware

Guest: Yaron Peleg

Topics covered

• Israel
• military aggression
• Zionism
• history
• Hezbollah
• Hamas
• self-image

Keywords

• Israel
• war
• Zionism
• military
• Hezbollah
• Hamas
• history
• antisemitism
• Holocaust

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Cambridge, The Conversation

Places: Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Europe

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