The politics of language in multiethnic militaries: The case of oriental Jews in the Israel defence forces, 1950-1959

This article argues that effective linguistic policies in multiethnic milit aries do not evolve by themselves. Rather, they require both political pres sure on the military to reform its language policy and the willingness of t he military to learn from the experience of other militaries. It also provi des new evidence to explain how a new quality classification system of manp ower excluded Oriental conscripts (Jews who emigrated from Arab and Muslim countries) from the IDF's aptitude resting process because the tests were i n Hebrew, not in their native languages, and therefore did not measure thei r true aptitude. Poor exam results were in turn interpreted as indications of widespread illiteracy among Oriental soldiers who were assigned to low-p restige vocations, with few succeeding in gaining entry into officer course s. The article also explains why David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Min ister and Defence Minister, senior military officers, and Oriental leaders did nothing to rectify this situation.