Educating Israeli Officers in the Processes of Peacemaking in the Middle East Conflict

This article suggests that the military in modern democratic societies which are involved in international conflicts must be educated not only in the use of force, but also in peacemaking and conflict resolution. The article presents an effort to educate Israeli military officers in the process of peacemaking in the Arab-Israeli conflict. This effort was based on the use of a new simulation and civilian resources. The basic characteristics of this simulation are presented as well as an evaluation of its actual and potential effects.The article suggests that the simulation technique could be a highly useful and powerful tool for education of the military, in the processes of conflict resolution, especially in periods of rapid changes and extensive negotiations. The use of this technique in the Israeli Army showed that it contributed to increase understanding of the policies and the motives of the other side, that it demonstrated the complex processes of negotiations and decisionmaking in the conflict, that it sensitized officers to new linkages between power and diplomacy, and that it even changed the attitudes of several officers.