Extraterritorial militarism: emigrants as soldiers in Israel

Militarism is a discourse that glorifies soldiers and treats military service as a key component of full citizenship. This article contends that states can project militaristic discourse onto citizens living outside their territory, thus creating an extraterritorial variant of militarism. When home-state elites construct overseas citizens as soldiers, they evaluate them based on their military record or their potential as prospective soldiers. The paradigmatic case of Israel reveals three forms of extraterritorial militarism: constructing citizens abroad as non-soldiers, past soldiers, or future soldiers. A discourse analysis of parliamentary debates illustrates how Israeli elites framed those emigrants and children of emigrants who served or were willing to serve in the Israel Defense Forces as better extraterritorial citizens than those who did not or would not serve. Additionally, the article examines who is excluded from the discourse of extraterritorial militarism in Israel, and how and why this discourse has changed over time.