Fiammetta Martegani

Since 1948, the IDF has been central not only to security but also to Israel’s national imagination. In a country that conceives itself as an "imagined community", the image of the soldier as David - a young fighter against a giant - became a national symbol and teaching tool. This article shows how that figure has shifted with the fortunes of the Arab-Israeli conflict, culminating in a metamorphosis: from David to Goliath and, more recently, the paradox of "David versus David".