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Rainbow, Snow, and the Poplar's Song: The "Annihilative Naming" of Israeli Military Practices

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gavriely1{at}gmail.com.

	Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of military naming, that is, the act of giving a name to military practices such as military operations, weaponry, and military units. The basic theoretical supposition is that military naming is a simple and useful mechanism that might be employed to blur undesired aspects—such as the human and economical costs—associated with the respective practices. Inspired by John B. Thompson’s "strategies of operation of ideology," the research uses the construct of "strategies of annihilative naming" to analyze a corpus of 239 Israeli names of military operations and weaponry. By using names coming from nature and the Bible, the Israeli military uses three strategies—naturalization, euphemization, and legitimation—that mediate Israeli public opinion toward controversial military operations as well as weaponry development. Future research of other military names will support the construction of generalizations about this important phenomenon.

First published on August 11, 2009
Armed Forces & Society 2009, doi:10.1177/0095327X09334993


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