How the October 7 attack reinforced Israel's 'Tower and Stockade' doctrine

The term "Homah uMigdal" — meaning "Tower and Stockade" — dates back to the 1930s, when the Zionist movement adopted it as a method for establishing settlements in historic Palestine. The approach involved rapidly erecting a perimeter wall and watchtower around each new settlement to secure it immediately against any potential attack, before any agricultural or economic activity could begin.

According to this analysis, the "security first" logic underpinning this settlement method did not remain confined to the past. Rather, it endured as a reference framework in both official and popular Israeli thinking for understanding the state's relationship with its surrounding environment.

The October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel are cited as having forcefully brought this concept back to the fore, with the doctrine invoked as an interpretive framework to justify or understand subsequent Israeli policies that prioritised fortification and security barriers along the borders, rather than alternative approaches previously under consideration.

The proponents of this analysis argue that the "Tower and Stockade" doctrine explains part of Israel's continued prioritisation of security and military solutions, echoing the historical pattern of the founding era, when security preceded every other consideration in the establishment of any new settlement.

This analysis remains one of the circulating readings offered to understand Israeli policies after October 7, at a time when perspectives on the deeper causes of Israel's current security orientations remain varied and contested.