Intersection: Replacing the Security Elite – A Battle Against a 30-Year Concept

Brigadier General (Res.) Amir Avivi

A Battle Over Doctrine

With all the power we have today, we still would not have been able to prevent what’s happening to us. The siege is crushing the Jewish people. Millions of Jews are suffering under it, and many are turning to Zionism and to the State of Israel because of that pain.

We are living through a kind of cultural Holocaust—a slow loss of millions of Jews who are being pulled away as the siege crushes them. They have lost their connection to the story.

 

Two Ways of Thinking

There are really two opposing ideas here:

• One says we are weak and our enemies are overwhelmingly strong.
• The other says our enemies will never dare attack us because we are too powerful.

I said from the beginning that the truth is somewhere in the middle. We are powerful, yes, but they will attack us eventually.

That was the idea behind the founding of the IDSF Security Forces Movement. It was not created after October 7. It was founded 7 years ago, long before that, with a clear purpose:

• To prevent another October 7.
• To change the entire national security concept.
• To do what is actually right, not what fits the old concept.

 

Why The Movement Was Needed

For years, I felt we simply did not have enough strength to change reality completely. But after October 7, reality changed anyway. At that point, we were finally able to affect decision-making in a major way.

I eventually stepped away from leading the movement after seven years, because I felt it was time to pass the baton. I also felt the movement had to grow beyond education, media, and research, and move into its next stage.

 

The Old Security Elite

The movement exists to carry out a historical task: replacing the security elite in Israel.

When I say “security elite,” I mean the small group that has shaped the security conversation for decades. It did not matter which government was in power—left, right, or center-right. They all made catastrophic decisions because they were trapped in the same concept.

For 30 years, what did not change was the elite that controlled the security discourse:

• The generals.
• The institutions around them.
• The old media-scientific hegemony.

A younger generation existed underneath that system. They saw what was happening and understood it was wrong, but they were afraid to challenge the old order.

 

Personal Background & Independence

Maybe I was less intimidated by that world because I came from it. I come from an old Mapai family, a Jerusalem family, a family deeply connected to defense and military service. My grandfather served in the defense forces, and my father fought as a tanker in the Six-Day War.

Still, military background alone did not shape me. I changed because I looked at reality and realized it did not match the world I had grown up in.

I did not connect to narratives that said we were the problem and the enemies were not. The change was gradual, but once it happened, it happened completely.

 

Pride As a Force

One of the biggest lessons I learned is that if you respect yourself and who you are, other people respect you. They do not have to agree with you, but they will respect you.

I learned this early in life. As a child, I lived in several countries, studied in international schools, and moved through different languages and cultures. Even then, I had Jewish and Zionist pride. I was not afraid to stand up for myself.

That confidence paid off. In school, I was made head of house a year after arriving, which taught me something important:

• A newcomer can lead.
• Identity matters.
• Pride is not arrogance; it is strength.

 

National Security Begins with Ethos

The most basic principle in our national security thinking is that security begins with national ethos. It begins with the connection to Judaism, Zionism, the People, and the Land.

Without spirit, no plane and no tank will save us. Everything begins with willpower. In Jewish thought, will is one of the strongest forces in the world.

This is why the war is also a struggle between wills. A people with a clear path and a strong identity is much harder to defeat.

 

Lessons From History

When Ben Gurion led the country, we were nothing in material terms:

• A population of 600,000 people.
• No industry.
• No real economy.
• No serious military establishment.

And yet he stood firm against pressure from the United States and refused to give up land like the Negev and the Galilee.

That’s the point: we had power, but we had lost our spirit before October 7. We did not lose our capabilities. We lost the clear path.

 

Why Education Matters

If you want to restore that path, it starts with education. The current system does not tell the story anymore.

If you ask young recruits entering Pre-Army Academies, or anyone else, to explain Zionism in one minute, many can’t do it. They don’t know the story of the Jewish people well enough:

• The Temples.
• The Exiles.
• The Romans.
• The destruction of Jerusalem.
• The historical roots of the Land.

If young people do not know their own history, they cannot understand the present.

 

Young People & Identity

Today’s youth are exposed to far more information than previous generations. They see many more sources through TikTok, Instagram, and AI.

But despite all that, I see something encouraging: when you say a few words of Judaism or Zionism, something in them lights up. They still have that connection inside them.

They want to know:

• What it means to be Jewish.
• Why they are targeted by enemies.
• Why this conflict keeps returning.

That question is not new. If you study history, you see that Jews have been attacked in every era and in every place. The details change, but the pattern remains.

 

National Security & Physical Reality

National security must also include physical reality. Spirit matters, but so does physics.

You need both:

• Will and identity.
• Weapons, production, and military capability.

You cannot go into battle with only spirit. If you do not have the tools, the spirit alone will not solve the problem. That is why Israel must be able to defend itself… by itself.

I saw this clearly in 2014, during the campaign against the tunnels. We became dangerously dependent on the United States for critical defense production, and that had to change.

 

The Need for Self-Reliance

The war showed how costly that dependence had become. Israel must be able to produce its own critical systems, parts, and capabilities.

We do not need to produce everything ourselves, but we do need:

• Strong stockpiles.
• Domestic production capacity.
• Independence in essential defense systems.

The future of this country and the Jewish people cannot be placed in anyone else’s hands.

 

The Four Pillars

Ben Gurion’s approach included ideas that were later reduced into a smaller security framework. The problem is that the unique elements of Israel were left out.

The framework usually includes:

• Deterrence.
• Early warning.
• Decisive warfare.
• Defense.

But that is not enough.

Israel also needs the elements that are unique to it:

• Spirit.
• Zionism.
• Settlement.
• Strategic geography.

 

Israel’s Geography

• The Land of Israel is not generic territory.
• It is narrow, topographically vulnerable, and incredibly important.

That means strategic depth matters.

If we give up the mountains, we give up the ability to defend the country properly. This is not just a political opinion. It is geography and physics.

The same logic applies to Judea and Samaria. If Israel loses control there, it is not like Gaza. Gaza is one thing; Judea and Samaria are far more central and dangerous from a strategic point of view.

 

Settlement As Security

Settlement is a critical part of national security, even if it is not treated that way in official doctrine.

 

Why?

• It creates control over the region.
• It helps maintain presence on the ground.
• It supports security in the Negev, the Galilee, Lod, Ramle, Akko, and Jerusalem too.

This is not only about Judea and Samaria. It is about the entire country.

 

Spirit & Power Together

A nation cannot survive on spirit alone, and it cannot survive on hardware alone.

What it needs is the combination:

• Spirit.
• Physical capability.
• Clear national purpose.
• Strong defense posture.

That is why I reject the idea that we can simply sign our way into a peaceful future and call it done. The world is too complicated for that.

 

Why The Conflict Continues

Terror organizations and jihadist groups do not think the way states do. They don’t try to live in the ordinary sense; they’re willing to die. That changes the entire framework.

You can’t solve that with wishful thinking. You can only reduce their capabilities, contain them, and keep their threat low enough that long periods of quiet become possible.

That is true in Lebanon, Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and beyond.

 

A Broader Vision

Israel sits at the center of the world. That makes it unique:

• Geostrategically, it connects three continents.
• Religiously, it matters to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

That combination ensures the struggle over this land will never disappear. But it also means this country can be an extraordinary place to live if it is governed wisely.

The future of Israel depends on three pillars:

1. A united people.
2. A service-based society, where everyone contributes in some way.
3. A strong national identity rooted in the Land, History, and Spirit.

 

Final Thought

We shouldn’t be ashamed of military service or national strength. Military service builds the nation, creates bridges between people, and supports everything else that follows.

At the same time, Israel is also a place of culture, music, creativity, and joy.

That’s the balance we seek.

If we remember our story, defend our Land, and stay connected to who we are, we will build a strong future here.