Syftet med uppsatsen är att öka förståelsen för taktisk kompetens som omhändertar den inneboende komplexiteten i militär verksamhet. Problemet häri är att kompetens kan anses vara något sällsynt och att inkompetens snarare är normalbilden. Uppsatsen tar sig an detta arbete genom att operationalisera Bertil Rolfs teorier om militär kompetens och Stephen Biddles teori om the Modern System. Ur detta teoretiska utblicksblicksfönster utfaller ett analysfilter bestående av kategorierna praktisk kunskap, professionell kunskap, regler och praktik inom institutioner och traditioner. Huruvida dessa kan utgöra en grund för förståelsen av taktisk kompetens analyseras därefter med stöd av Israel Defense Forces taktiska prestationer under det andra Libanonkriget 2006. Resultatet är att taktisk kompetens är möjlig att förstå utifrån förutsättningarna att hantera den föränderliga helheten. Taktisk kompetens handlar om de organisatoriska villkoren att kritiskt granska och reflektera över rådande förhållanden och förutsättningarna för att åstadkomma förändring och utveckling. Att tänka annorlunda är nödvändigt men svårt och kanske obehagligt, eftersom det ofta inte välkommas i organisationen.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / The thesis studies the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) transformation in the context of the U.S. military transformation. The thesis argues that the uniqueness of the U.S. military transformation does not prevent other militaries from applying the relevant concepts and considers the IDF as a good candidate for such a demonstration. Therefore, the thesis explores the U.S. military transformation as a model to be benefited in the IDF's continuing transformation. The thesis also studies IDF from many perspectives to identify the transformational imperatives and the relevance of the current IDF transformational efforts. Main areas of interest are the Israeli security environment, societal transformation, and the features of the IDF's transformational efforts. During the analysis, the thesis discovers weak points concerning, both, the U.S. military transformation and the IDF's current organization. The examination of the IDF's transformation in relation to the U.S. transformation reveals similarities between the two transformations and comes up with recommendations, primarily for the IDF, but to a lesser extent for the U.S. military. / First Lieutenant, Turkish Army

In light of an ever growing gap between Israel’s religious and secular communities, it is perhaps inevitable that the phenomenon would come to capture the interest of Israel-oriented scholars. Yet efforts to address the extent to which religion affects the nature and operations of the Israeli army and the degree to which that influence is advantageous – or perhaps detrimental – have been far from comprehensive. A manifestation of the religious-secular conflict, the religious-military cleavage within Israeli society has long been at the heart of Israel-focused research. Scholars have remained intrigued by the conflicts that arise when a soldier’s religious background is at odds with the inflexibility of army life. Many researchers have sought to measure the degree to which religion affects army cohesion and success in war, and determine whether or not religious influence on the State’s force is largely harmless or a looming threat. While scholars of both camps have posited credible theories crafted out of sound analyses, a review of selected scholarship on the subject suggests that the influence of religion on the Israeli military is benign. Opponents of religious influence on the military have failed to appreciate the benefits of integrating devout troops into the force and the successes of mediating mechanisms that have become instrumental to the IDF. Such mediators may have been implemented in an effort to accommodate religious soldiers, but the entire force has stood to benefit. / text

The respective master's thesis examines the relationship between frames and narratives and how they resonate with images on social media. In the present thesis I research how Israel Defense Forces framed the protests in Gaza also known as the Great March of Return from 30 March 2018 to 30 March of 2019 on Twitter. While analyzing the twitter account of Israel Defense Forces, I apply Entman's (1993) elements of framing and identify broader strategic narratives that Israel currently employs. The broader strategic narratives include "Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East"; "Israel as a startup nation" and "Israel as the leader in combating Islamic terrorism". In the theoretical part I also reflect on previous research and studies engaging with social media and its use by militaries. In the analytical part I identify individual frames that Israel Defense Forces have repeatedly employed during the protests in the respective timeframe. Each frame is accompanied by visual content and if available by the strategic narratives.

This thesis examines who the Israel Defense Forces use their English languageTwitter account to construct an image of Hezbollah online during times without violent conflict. The goal is to understand how this behavior fits within Israel’sPublic Diplomacy strategy. Using Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze tweets concerning Hezbollah between May 2020 and May 2021, I identify one maindriver of the adaptation of social media into the military’s public diplomacy toolkit: mediatization. Results show that the Israel Defense Forces has adopted Twitter as a communication channel outside the gatekeeper function and control of traditional media outlets, to share their Public Diplomacy message directly with foreign audiences – including their enemies, such as Hezbollah. I identify five main categories or intentions with which the Israel Defense Forces address Hezbollah on Twitter: 1) Remembrance, 2) Current Developments and Information, 3) Iraian Proxies 4) tweets mentioning Hezbollah directly and 5)tweets Shaming, Blaming or Calling-out Hezbollah or the international community and media on their approach to the group.