Former Dpty Israeli National Security Advisor: Policy improvised based on
political survival considerations
Dr Aaron Lerner 10 November 2006

Today's Hebrew edition of Haaretz features an article by Aluf Ben
www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=786308&contrassID=2&subContrassID=21&sbSubContrassID=0
detailing an article written by former Deputy Israeli National Security
Advisor Charles D. Freilich that appears in the current issue of The Middle
East Journal (see abstract below from the Middle East Journal) in which he
slams Israeli prime ministers for improvising rather than thinking through
policy with the emphasis on short term considerations of political survival.
Decisions are made by the prime minister without orderly consultations and
frequently in an oral process leaving no proper written record of what
transpired.

Ironically, the article, that does not appear in the English edition, is
published the same day that Israel's papers report PM Olmert's
shot-from-the-hip plans to possibly withdraw from 90% of the West Bank and
provide for the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state without requiring
Palestinian security compliance. Other ideas Mr. Olmert has improvised for
his upcomming visit to Washington include the possibility of introducing
many thousands of additional assault rifles to the Gaza Strip as well as yet
another Palestinian security force.
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National Security Decision-Making in Israel: Processes, Pathologies, and
Strengths
Charles D. Freilich ( former Deputy Israeli National Security Advisor)
The Middle East Journal, Volume 60, Number 4, Autumn 2006. The Middle East
Institute

Abstract

This article presents a first of its kind typology of Israeli national
security decision-making processes, focusing on five primary pathologies and
a number of strengths. It will demonstrate that these pathologies are the
product of an extraordinarily compelling external environment and domestic
structural factors: chiefly, the extreme politicization of the
decision-making process stemming from the proportional representation
electoral system, the consequent need to govern through coalition cabinets,
and the absence of effective cabinet-level decision-making support
capabilities.