Following the October 7 intelligence failure, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are making a significant policy shift in their intelligence arm, AMAN. The IDF will now require Arabic language and Islamic Studies for everyone in the military intelligence sector, according to a report by The Jerusalem Post.
The order, signed by Major General Shlomi Binder, AMAN head, is designed to enhance the cultural and linguistic proficiency of Israel’s intelligence officers. Next year, 100% of AMAN staff will be trained in Islamic Studies, and 50% will receive Arabic language training.
A Shift in Intelligence Culture on a Strategic Level
The decision is a profound reassessment within Israel’s intelligence establishment. In an interview with Army Radio, a senior AMAN official conceded previous failures:
“Up until now, we have not been good enough when it comes to culture, language, and Islam. We must do better in these fields. We will not make our intelligence officers and soldiers into Arab children who came from a village, but by learning about languages and culture, we can make them doubting and extremely observant.”
The training course will also entail dialect-specific courses, specifically Houthi and Iraqi Arabic, posing a challenge to Israeli intelligence units. One such challenge is the use of qat, a commonly used narcotic plant in Yemen that distorts speech clarity and makes intercepted communications more complex.
Institutional Support and Education Reforms
The IDF is also setting up an entirely new department that will be responsible for Arabic and Islamic studies to manage and execute the reforms in training. As reported by Army Radio’s military correspondent Doron Kadosh, the army will revive TELEM, which was a unit originally supporting the study of Arabic and Middle Eastern studies in Israeli schools.
The program had been disbanded earlier because of budget cutbacks, which resulted in a significant reduction in the number of young Israelis learning Arabic.
With this new emphasis, the IDF seeks to overcome long-standing deficits in cultural knowledge. This broad turnaround is not merely a tactical advancement but a strategic priority to develop a better understanding of the region and improve operational capabilities in future wars.
