Chuck Freilich

November 2012

Zion's Dilemmas: How Israel Makes National Security Policy

Book

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

In Zion's Dilemmas, a former deputy national security adviser to the State of Israel details the history and, in many cases, the chronic inadequacies in the making of Israeli national security policy. The author uses his insider understanding and substantial archival and interview research to describe how Israel has made strategic decisions and to present a first of its kind model of national security decision-making in Israel. The book concludes with cogent and timely recommendations for reform.

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December 2012–January 2013

"Striking Iran: The Debate in Israel"

Journal Article, Survival, issue 6, volume 54

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"Although the unusual public nature and stridency of the debate struck many around the world, it is still hard for those abroad to understand how great the effect on the Israeli public has been. The Iranian nuclear programme had been the one consensual issue in an otherwise politically frenetic and deeply divided country and was dealt with, so the public believed, in a manner appropriate to the severity of the threat."

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2012

"Israel in Lebanon—Getting It Wrong: The 1982 Invasion, 2000 Withdrawal, and 2006 War"

Journal Article, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, issue 3, volume VI

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"The present study assesses the reasons for Israel's repeated policy failures in Lebanon by comparing the decision making processes (DMPs) in the three most important cases above: the two wars and the unilateral withdrawal. Failure, of course, is both a relative and subjective term. Indeed, it can be argued that not all of these cases were unequivocal failures; the outcome of the 2006 war was not entirely negative from Israel's perspective and the alternative in 2000, such as remaining in Lebanon, might have been worse. Thus, failure, for the purposes of this study, refers not to the quality of the outcomes, but to Israel's ability to achieve the objectives set out by its leaders."

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Summer 2010

"Armageddon and the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism"

Journal Article, InFocus, issue 2, volume IV

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"Nuclear terrorism poses a unique threat not only because of the magnitude of the destruction, but because those most likely to perpetrate an attack may be fundamentally nihilistic and therefore undeterrable — prepared to pay any cost in loss of life in pursuit of their objectives. As millennial movements for whom the crippling and even destruction of the U.S. and Israel are sacred missions, a nuclear terrorist attack where even a devastating response is assumed may be a worthy means of ushering in a messianic era."

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Spring 2010

"Decision Time in Jerusalem"

Journal Article, Journal of International Security Affairs, volume 18

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

In Israel, it has become commonplace—indeed, almost axiomatic—to speak of the Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat. Senior decision-makers and defense officials have repeated this warning so often that the words "existential" and "Iran" have become almost synonymous in Israeli discourse. Foreign media, meanwhile, repeatedly speculate on the prospects of an Israeli attack on Iran, and some have speculated that 2010 may be the "year of decision."

Autumn 2006

"National Security Decision-Making in Israel: Processes, Pathologies, and Strengths"

Journal Article, Middle East Journal, issue 4, volume 60

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

This article presents a first of its kind typology of Israeli national security decision-making processes, focusing on five primary pathologies and a number of strengths.

April 2006

"'The Pentagon's Revenge' or Strategic Transformation: The Bush Administration's New Security Strategy"

Journal Article, Strategic Assessment, Published by Tel Aviv's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, issue 1, volume 9

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"The strategy has four main objectives: homeland defense, defeating terrorism, preventing WMD proliferation, and developing cooperative agendas with other "centers of global power," primarily China, Russia, and India."

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November 2008

"The United States, Israel, and Iran: Defusing an 'Existential' Threat"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Arms Control Today

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"Iran is an existential threat to Israel. This apocalyptic warning call has become a mantra continually repeated by virtually all Israeli leaders and defense officials and has been adopted by much of the U.S. national security establishment. President George W. Bush even warned that Iran’s declared intention of destroying Israel could lead to World War III.

There is no doubt that Iran poses a severe threat to Israel, not only in the nuclear field, but what kind of danger does its nuclear program constitute? Is Israel’s future in imminent danger if Iran goes nuclear? The answer is probably not. Although somewhat reassuring, this response is less than satisfying...."

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September-October 2008

"The Right Return"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, The American Interest, Toolbox, issue 1, volume 4

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

Former Deputy Head of the Israeli National Security Council Chuck Freilich outlines a bold proposal to re-invigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in an action memorandum to the next President of the United States.

AP Photo

March 2008

"Six Ways Not to Deal with Hamas"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

How do you stop a foe whose tolerance for pain exceeds your willingness to inflict it?

Senior Fellow Chuck Freilich examines each of the alternatives.