Israel's National Security Law：Political Dynamics and Historical Development

This book traces the sources and consequences of the legal framework for Israel's national security. Amichai Cohen (international law, Ono Academic College) and Stuart Cohen (political science, Bar-Ilan U.) present a historical narrative of that framework's evolution and demonstrate how different actors and circumstances guided it. They take an interdisciplinary approach that does not view the law and legal actors as operating independently of ideology, and draw on the resources of critical legal studies and political studies. In three sections of 2-4 chapters each they present the framework of their analysis and cultural context, the development of Israel's national security legal framework in four stages from 1948-2008, and a two-part diagnosis/prognosis of Israel's hybrid national security legal framework and an agenda for reform. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Amichai Cohen teaches International Law at the Faculty of Law, Ono Academic College, Israel, and is a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute. His research interests are International Humanitarian Law, and the interaction between International Law and Domestic Law.

Stuart A. Cohen teaches Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, where he is also senior research associate of the BESA (Begin-Sadat) Center for Strategic Studies. He is the author of Israel and its Army (Routledge 2008) and edited The New Citizen Armies: Israel’s armed forces in comparative perspective (Routledge 2010).