Mowing the grass

Israel Defense Forces tactic

This article is about the Israeli military tactic. For the activity from which it gets its name, see Lawn mower.

Mowing the grass (Hebrew: כיסוח דשא) is a metaphor used to describe periodic Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip to manage the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During such attacks, Israel has targeted Palestinian militants,^[1]^[2] civilians,^[3]^[4] and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.^[3]^[5]^[6]

The strategy is usually carried out by conducting short, sharp military operations to maintain a certain level of control over the area without committing to a long-term political solution, similar to how one would mow a lawn to keep it neat and tidy.^[7]

The term was coined by Efraim Inbar and Eitan Shamir,^[8] two scholars associated with the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, where they described how "Israel is acting in accordance with a "mowing the grass" strategy. After a period of military restraint, Israel is acting to severely punish Hamas for its aggressive behavior, and degrading its military capabilities – aiming at achieving a period of quiet."^[9]

According to Adam Taylor in The Washington Post , "the phrase implies the Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and their supply of crude but effective homemade weapons are like weeds that need to be cut back."^[1]

Naftali Bennett referred to the idea in a speech in 2018 when he said "מי שלא מכסח את הדשא, הדשא מכסח אותו" ('He who does not mow the grass, the grass mows him').^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b Taylor, Adam (14 May 2021). "With strikes targeting rockets and tunnels, the Israeli tactic of 'mowing the grass' returns to Gaza" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 22 November 2023.
^ Byman, Daniel (27 November 2023). "Mowing the Grass and Taking Out the Trash" . Foreign Policy. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b Rouhana, Nadim (22 May 2025). "Mowing the Lawn: Lethal Metaphors in Israeli National Security Culture Pre-7 October" . Journal of Genocide Research: 1–22. doi:10.1080/14623528.2025.2506162. ISSN 1462-3528. Yet, it is not only "rival organizations" and "non-state" actors that these strategies target, but also the civilian population, its life, and infrastructure, as described below.
^ Miller, Zinaida (8 November 2023). "In Gaza, Catastrophic Violence of War and Slow Violence of Oppression Collide". Just Security. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
^ "From Biblical Wars to Justice for All | The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs". www.belfercenter.org. 6 June 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025. the Israeli military doctrine of "mowing the lawn" that requires a hard attack against Palestinian resistance groups and civilian infrastructure in Gaza every few years
^ Shlaim, Avi (7 January 2019). "Ten years after the first war on Gaza, Israel still plans endless brute force". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
^ Cohen, Raphael S. (19 October 2023). "Opinion: The problem with Israel's futile Gaza strategy, explained". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
^ Reiff, Ben (10 May 2018). "'Mowing the Grass' and the Force/Casualty Tradeoff: Israel's predictable response to the Gaza protests". Middle East Centre. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
^ Shamir, Eitan; Inbar, Efraim (22 July 2014). "Mowing the grass in Gaza". The Jerusalem Post . Archived from the original on 12 May 2025. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
^ רובינשטיין, רועי (4 September 2018). "בנט: "מי שלא מכסח את הדשא, הדשא מכסח אותו"". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 30 November 2023.

References

Further reading