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USS Clueless writes on the IDF (the Israeli military) and why he doesn't consider it to be (in his words) "first class".
I'd like to clarify a point or two regarding the IDF's reliance on reservists and the implications.
I am not trying to say that I expect Israel's army to break ranks and start raping Palestinian women. That's not the point. I am, however, concerned about the possibility that if an Israeli unit made up primarily of reservists gets into a bad situation during city fighting, surrounded, cut off, terrified, with any Palestinian they see ? even children ? potentially a deadly enemy, that someone might crack and suddenly start shooting anything that moves, and that this might spread and you'd have a massacre on your hands. Panic and loss of military discipline can spread more rapidly than you'd believe in a case like that.
Actually, this is the least likely scenario. Reservists units are generally older and much "calmer". Many reservists have families, and are more sensitive to loss of innocent lives. This is generally true for most other armies, and is one reason (of many) why the army likes to "take them young". When you compare the number of clashes between soldiers and civilian population at road blocks, the difference between reservists and regulars is evident.
On the other hand, I think that the Israeli troops which attacked Jenin were regulars, not reservists.
This is wrong. The first forces that went into Jenin were reservists. They were later replaced regulars (after several days of battle).
That potential problem with discipline is my biggest concern about them. But my main reason for not considering the IDF a "first class" military is that it is highly specialized, and designed to perform the one task of preventing a combined attack by several hostile nations from destroying Israel.
Actually, the IDF has carried out a few successful "non-specialized" operations along the years. Attacking the Iraqi nuclear reactor -- a long-range accurate air force strike, for example. Or the assassination of Abu-Jihad in Tunisia (a navy/special forces operation). Or the "Yonatan" operation in Antebe.
I think you equate "first class" with "global reach". There's no doubt that the IDF doesn't have a global reach. One should also be careful not to mistake the ability to mobilize forces to a remote, but friendly, country to conduct war with the ability to actually conduct a war away from home with no local support. In fact, other than the US, I think no country today has a military capable of the latter.
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