Military Operations as Acts of Self-Defense: The Begin Doctrine and Israeli Counterterrorism

The disengagement of the Gaza Strip was an important turning point in Israeli history as it set the stage for consequent Israeli conflicts. My paper intends to answer a set of questions the disengagement from Gaza and how it has affected Israeli security and counterterrorism policy. How did the Begin Doctrine's application change after the disengagement from the Gaza Strip? What considerations are prioritized? The Begin Doctrine set a precedent that still influences Israeli security strategy. By reducing the doctrine down to its core tenets and using the disengagement as a case study, I argue that the existing framework gets repurposed for counterterrorism, and its application has expanded beyond its use for counterproliferation. In doing so, it acknowledges a shift in priorities in external threats and changes its attitudes toward international law. In doing so, this case provides a framework for how states choose to conduct military operations and how they justify those decisions to the rest of the world.