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

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.