Israel army hosts international conference on ‘military doctrine’

The Israeli military hosted an international conference on “military doctrine” last week, with dozens of delegates from 30 armies attending, reported the Jerusalem Post.

The event was organised by the military’s “Ground Forces’ Doctrine Branch” and Foreign relations branch.

Attendees hailed from, among others, Germany, United States, Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland and the Philippines.

According to the news site, the conference “allowed officers from the various forces to share knowledge about common issues and threats”.

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Lieutenant Colonel Tsach Moshe, head of the Israeli military’s Ground Force’s Doctrine Branch, told the Jerusalem Post that delegates come because they see the Israeli army as “very well experienced”.

“They want to hear from us and hear from other countries. Most of the countries are in NATO, but they always say that when they come here, which is not in a NATO environment, they can hear about so many issues from a different perspective.”

In addition, Moshe explained, the purpose of the gathering is also for the Israeli military to learn from other countries’ armed forces.

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One example he cited was dialogue between the Israeli army and the British army in order to incorporate British tactical wargaming methods into the Israeli military’s doctrine.

“During the second conference we heard that the Brits have a great concept for tactical wargaming methods. We sent a delegation to the British army, and we learned about the idea from there.”

“The British army has a lot of things we want to learn from, including multidimensional manoeuvring systems, like what we want to do. They have a lot of knowledge.”

Moshe added: “What’s the most important for us, and probably for all of us, is to hold discussions around a main issue that allows us to take the experience of other armies on the battlefield and study it and not to wait until the issues come to the Middle East.”