Luttwak Edward N., Horowitz Daniel. The Israeli Army, 1948-1973

Abt Books, 1983. — 411 p.The Israeli Army by Edward Luttwak is a dated book on the military history of the Israeli Army from its inception in 1948 through its participation in the October War of 1973 is covered in this book. Its utility to persons interested in light forces/airborne forces is found in its limited discussions of the development, training, equipment, force structure, tactics, and operations of the airborne units and the Golani Brigade.
You get the strategy from the rag tag volunteers of 1948 to the sophisticated fighter pilots of 1973. You see the story of a military creating itself on the run, in the heat of battle; young, lower level officers inventing solutions under fire, out of shere necessity of survival. You get the constant review and criticism after every battle, after every war. Above all, you read of almost unheard of bravery as the Israeli forces fought off the combined Arab armies in three wars. And in 1973, the Russian led and Russian supplied Egyptian air force. All through these tense wars Israel was constantly fighting with diplomatic and military limitations. From the very first hours of its founding it lived under arms embargoes, especially from its alleged protector, the United States. It is no small irony that Germany supplied tanks to the Israelis for the 1948 war after the United States refused them. France came briefly to their rescue by selling them fighter Jets in the 1950s but turned against them by the late 1960s, allying with Syria, a rouge nation up to the 21rst century. Their isolation forced them to build their own planes. The original arms and tanks and planes for the new nation consisted of scrap metal actually smuggled into Israel against various arms and economic sanctions and boycotts.