Israel Defense and Security Forum founder Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi advocated for reasoned assessments and values to guide national security policy, after he accepted an award for the think tank at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York City on Monday.
National security is about values, and for Israel, this means a connection to Zionism and Judaism, said Avivi. The ability to win the Israel-Hamas war is predicated on will that is informed by these values. It was a principle of Zionism to achieve the basic issue of military self-reliance, he told the audience.
“We are in a biblical moment – nothing like Israel has ever experienced before,” he said.
Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein presented the IDSF an award for exceptional pro-Israel activism because “their tireless defense of Israel’s existence and the homeland of the Jewish people is truly commendable.”
Klein had recalled how, in the wake of the October 7 massacre, Avivi had assured that “Israel is going to win decisively” against Hamas but also emphasized that the Gazan terrorist group was “funded, equipped, and guided by Iran.”
The forum’s founder shared how he had served as aide-de-camp of the IDF chief-of-staff in 2005 after having commanded a battalion in the defensive shield to restore order in the West Bank. He said that the chief-of-staff had expected the military to conduct a similar operation in the Gaza Strip, which had “become an area of chaos.”
The award recipient recalled watching then-prime minister Ariel Sharon announce a withdrawal from Gaza at the Herzliya Conference, and how the Israeli leader had then asked the military for an assessment. The chief-of-staff reportedly warned that Gaza would become “Hamasistan.”
“Usually we assess and then decide,” Avivi had pondered.
Avivi said that he founded IDSF because of the need for “a very dominant force in the public sphere dealing with national security without any politics and without any agenda, being able to tell society and decision makers what will strengthen Israel’s security and what will endanger Israel’s security.”
A combination of grassroots movement and think tank, the forum has 30,000 activists including 7,000 officers.
“This is the way to make an impact – if you want to shape hearts and minds, you need to be a grassroots movement,” said Avivi.
As a grassroots movement, he didn’t want the IDSF to become political, but when asked by Klein if he was interested in pursuing higher office, Avivi responded that leadership would emanate from the movement.
The Israel Defense and Security Forum sponsored a portion of the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference. www.jpost.com/AC24