Military intelligence and the securitization of Arabic proficiency in Israel: the limits of influence and the curse of unintended consequences

Allon J. Uhlmann

doi:10.1080/02684527.2022.2065605

Military intelligence and the securitization of Arabic proficiency in Israel: the limits of influence and the curse of unintended consequences

Allon J. Uhlmann

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3 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Since its very inception, Israel's security apparatus, led by Military Intelligence, has struggled to overcome the paucity of potential Jewish recruits who are proficient in Arabic. Military Intelligence came to dominate Arabic instruction at schools and universities to broaden and deepen Arabic instruction to Jews, but to no avail. Ironically, military Intelligence's very intervention has entrenched its own failure. The securitization of Arabic instruction both devalues Arabic and imposes on Jews an impoverished Arabic proficiency - one that lends itself to domination rather than communication. Consequently, too few Jews study Arabic, and their proficiency remains poor.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	541-555
Number of pages	15
Journal	Intelligence and National Security
Volume	37
Issue number	4
Early online date	20 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2022.2065605
Publication status	Published - 2022

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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language

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10.1080/02684527.2022.2065605

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 1.47 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Military intelligence and the securitization of Arabic proficiency in Israel: the limits of influence and the curse of unintended consequences

Abstract

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