Civilian ‘soft’ militarism through informal education in Israel: learning to protect and connect to the land

The civil society organization HaShomer HaChadash (The New Guard) attempts to fill a security gap in Israel's periphery by tackling the continuous threat of what it frames as 'agricultural terrorism' by securing farms in combination with a wide array of educational activities that emphasize the importance of agriculture, and simultaneously include the teaching of military themes (such as leadership, heroism, and sacrifice) and military skills training (guarding, navigation, and Krav Maga). The proposed paper investigates the nexus of militarism and informal education as manifested in Israeli civil society through the activities of HaShomer HaChadash. While the entanglement of militarism and education has deep roots in Israeli political culture, it has usually been nurtured by the government and not by non-state organizations. We argue that the combination of security and educational activities can be interpreted as a renaissance or evolution of Israeli civilian militarism, which we term 'soft militarism' in the margins of the state.