The People's Army Model
The People's Army Model (Hebrew: מודל צבא העם) is a school of thought in Israel concerning the role of the Israeli Army, the IDF, vis-à-vis Israeli society. According to this conception, the IDF plays a broader role than merely defending Israel's national security. It also has a social role in implementing the country's melting pot policy, through integrating all sectors of Israeli society into its units. Israel's regular army is relatively small, and thus its strength in emergency is based on reservists, which comprise much of the entire nation.[1] Following the Suez Crisis, the Israeli newspaper Davar published the following: "Our army is, as is well known, the people's army, an army of reserves, the laborer and the clerk, [as] the laborer and the teacher had one day laid down their daily work and stabilized the flag".[2] It is from this premise that the view that the school is called to the training of youth to be the "people's army", by providing uniform education, was derived.[3]