Israel’s National Security Doctrine: The Report of the Committee on the Formulation of the National Security Doctrine (Meridor Committee), Ten Years Later

Dan Meridor, Ron Eldadi

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This special memorandum presents the report of the Committee for the Formulation of Israel’s National Security Doctrine (Meridor Committee, 2006) and examines the conclusions and recommendations of the committee’s report a decade later. The committee was asked by the minister of defense and the prime minister to assess the validity of the existing national security doctrine and to recommend a revised version, given the main security challenges of the coming decade. At the end of a long and comprehensive process, the committee submitted to government leaders, for the first time, a formal and written document that set out a comprehensive, integrative, and long-term national security doctrine. This memorandum presents only a condensed version of the report due to its sensitive nature.

The committee’s report was adopted by the minister of defense and was presented to the prime minister, the Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs (the security cabinet), the heads of the defense establishment, the forum of the IDF General Staff, and other officials. The report gained widespread approval with respect to both its necessity and its content. Although the security cabinet did not have a formal vote to approve the report, in practice some of its recommendations have been adopted. For example, a fourth component (defense) was added to the security triad (deterrence, warning, and decisive victory). In the decade since the committee completed its work, the importance has only increased for an updated and relevant national security doctrine, which can serve as an essential compass for the formulation of principles that will guide the response, for the establishment of an order of priorities, and for the management of risk in the face of Israel’s security challenges.

Since the writing of the report, Israel’s strategic environment has undergone a few more changes; nonetheless, the basic model for the formulation of a security doctrine for Israel’s unique conditions, as well as many of the principles underlying the concept, are still relevant and important, even in today’s changing reality. Therefore, this memorandum presents the story of the committee’s work and examines whether its conclusions and recommendation have withstood the test of time, and if they will in the future. Finally, this memorandum emphasizes that a relevant security doctrine needs to be formulated as soon as possible and will contribute to the important public discussion of Israel’s national security issues.