By A.M. Goldstein

HAIFA —Many of the heroes of ancient Israel — Jephtha, Saul, David , Judah Macabbi—were in the modern sense generals before they became politicians.  Modern Israel is finding, according to a University of Haifa study, that more and more generals are entering politics after shedding their uniforms.

And the end of this phenomenon, according to Dr. Shlomo Zadik of the University's School of Political Science who conducted the study, is not in sight.

"The assessment that the age of 'military government' in the Israeli political system is over with is incorrect," he states flatly, adding that "the reality shows just how far off this assessment is."  Zadok investigated trends and patterns over a 50-year period, from 1949-1999, among senior Israeli officers and security officials who chose to go into politics.

There were four times as many high IDF officers in politics in 1999 than in 1949.  The researcher also found that almost everyone—95%--in the highest ranks who wanted to go into national politics succeeded in doing so without any special effort.

Zadok punctures the myth that generals generally joined the political parties on the Left.  If this were true at one time, it is no longer as the number joining leftist parties has been decreasing over the years while the number associating themselves with parties on the Right has been increasing.

Despite the prominence of Shaul Mofaz, the former IDF chief of staff who is now Israel 's Defense Minister, the number of senior Sephardic officers going into politics is much lower than Ashkenazic high officers.  Their number is growing, though, Zadok said.

The University of Haifa researcher also found that the trend of "generals" entering politics was even stronger at the local level than at the national level.  He cited the figure of 131 senior officers who succeeded in integrating into local politics of 133 who had tried.  Those who wanted the top "command" of mayor had a more than 50% success rate, with 67 gaining the title of 105 who wanted it.

Zadok commented that the "generals in politics" phenomenon was expanding.  But he advised that "this expansion might create cracks in the hegemony of IDF rule of the Israeli political system at all levels."  He pointed to three high security and defense officials who only recently have thrown their civilian hats into Israel 's political ring.

A.M. Goldstein is the English language editor for the University of Haifa's Department of External Affairs.