"The Psyche of the Israeli Army: From Watchmen to Warriors (1)"

PART I "When the Memory of Suffering Becomes a Justification for Suffering" History often assumes that victims of oppression become natural opponents of oppression. Yet history repeatedly demonstrates the opposite. Communities that have endured persecution, displacement, humiliation, and violence are not automatically inoculated against becoming perpetrators of similar acts. The transition from victimhood to power represents one of the most complex and least understood transformations in political psychology. The Israeli military experience offers a compelling case study of this phenomenon. The early Zionist watchman stood as a symbol of vigilance and self-defence. His task was simple: protect vulnerable communities from attack. He was not conceived as a conqueror but as a guardian. Yet the contemporary image projected by Israel's military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the occupied Palestinian territories presents a very different picture—one characterised by overwhelming force, technological dominance, collective punishment allegations, and widespread accusations of crimes against humanity and genocide. The question is therefore not merely military or political. It is psychological. How does a watchman become a warrior? More importantly, how does a people who define themselves through memories of persecution come to justify policies and practices that many observers regard as systematic persecution of others? The answer may lie not in military doctrine alone but in the psychological architecture of collective memory, fear, power, and moral identity. The Psychology of Eternal Threat Human beings rarely perceive reality directly. They perceive reality through narratives. When a community repeatedly experiences trauma, the trauma does not disappear when the danger subsides. Instead, it becomes institutionalised. Trauma evolves into memory. Memory evolves into identity. Identity evolves into doctrine. Over time, the distinction between actual threats and anticipated threats becomes blurred. A society conditioned by fear begins to interpret the world through a lens of permanent insecurity. Every confrontation becomes existential. Every adversary becomes a potential destroyer. Every compromise appears dangerous. Political psychologists describe this phenomenon as a siege mentality—a condition in which a group perceives itself as surrounded by hostile forces regardless of changes in the objective balance of power. The paradox is profound. A state may become militarily dominant while continuing to think psychologically as though it remains vulnerable. This contradiction creates fertile ground for extreme security policies. The stronger the state becomes, the more expansive its definition of threat may become. What begins as self-defence gradually evolves into pre-emption. Pre-emption evolves into domination. Domination evolves into normality. The Corruption of Victimhood Victimhood possesses immense moral power. The memory of suffering creates social cohesion, political legitimacy, and international sympathy. It also provides a powerful ethical framework through which communities interpret their place in the world. Yet victimhood contains a hidden danger. When suffering becomes central to collective identity, it can produce what criminologists might describe as moral exceptionalism—the belief that ordinary moral rules apply differently to one's own group. The logic is deceptively simple. If our suffering was unique, then our fears are unique. If our fears are unique, then our actions require unique justification. If our actions require unique justification, then ordinary moral constraints become obstacles to survival. The result is a gradual transition from moral responsibility to moral exemption. Violence that would be condemned in others becomes understandable in ourselves. Civilian suffering becomes regrettable but necessary. Destruction becomes unfortunate but unavoidable. The moral vocabulary remains intact while its substance changes entirely. (to be continued..................)