Israel defence forces organizational changes in an era of budgetary cutbacks

This article will show that rather than being revolutionary, changes to the IDF security doctrine, have been reactive in the sense that most of the changes the IDF is currently deciding to implement have been forced upon it mostly due to large budgetary cuts. Such budget cutbacks have been especially dramatic since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (September 2000) and in spite of the rising costs that such a conflict has exacted on the overall defence budget. Moreover, this article will argue that such changes could have already taken place earlier, but have not, given the conservative nature of the IDF strategic doctrine. Notwithstanding such criticisms, the article will in any case illustrate the strategic and operational changes that the IDF – principally its ground forces – is planning to undertake over the coming years.