Revising the National Security Concept: The Need for a Strategy of Multidisciplinary Impact

By Udi Dekel, Omer Einav, canadafreepress.com

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Extract:

Israel’s general recourse to military means does not provide a complete response to current needs. The primary conclusion stemming from an analysis of the emerging situation is that a multidisciplinary, complex, and sophisticated approach is required, based on systemic method combining political, diplomatic, public diplomacy, strategic media, new media, information warfare, economic, legal, cyber, and other tools. ...

Action should be taken to achieve maximum influence in the strategic environment through the use of diverse tools at various levels, including: (a) direct access to the enemy population through public diplomacy, with the help of the new media and humanitarian assistance up to the level of the local community; (b) instruments of soft power, such as information warfare, economic leverage, legal means, political subversion tools, water and energy arrangements, security and technological aid, and private market and civilian initiatives; (c) cooperation with actors having interests overlapping those of Israel – today prominently with regard to Jordan, Egypt, and the security apparatuses of the Palestinian Authority. The range can be extended to pragmatic Arab states by reaching understandings about common interests, including beyond the security sphere; (d) cyber warfare, in order to neutralize enemy capabilities and create influence; (e) construction of a legal and public relations apparatus aimed at reducing Israel’s isolation in the international arena, the damage to its legitimacy, and the restrictions and sanctions against it, mainly when it is necessary to use force for self-defense.

The multidisciplinary approach requires systemic-wide control, including effective planning, coordination, and synchronization of all efforts to enhance Israel’s influence in the area and constrict the threats, while building and strengthening opportunities. Systematic management will make it possible to use military means – with capabilities for significant precision strikes against the enemy – and soft means, wisely and in coordinated fashion. Systematic and multidisciplinary operations will help consolidate Israel’s status as a key element in the Middle East, without detracting from its deterrent image as a power capable of inflicting severe damage, and its positive image of regional builder, developer, and assistance provider. ...

In order for the multidisciplinary approach to materialize, learning processes should be devised and introduced into institutions, suitable processes and organizational structures should be formulated, and a multidisciplinary systems manager (operator) who will be directly responsible to the Prime Minister should be appointed.