How October 7 Reinforced Israel’s ‘Wall and Tower’ Doctrine

The question of how October 7 reshaped Israel’s security outlook reaches back to a settlement model adopted by the Zionist movement in the 1930s: “Homa u’Migdal,” or “Wall and Tower.”

The phrase describes more than the physical features of a fortified settlement. It places protection and surveillance at the centre of settlement-building, with the wall marking a defended boundary and the watchtower providing a means of observing what lies beyond it.

In this reading, the defining symbol of Israeli settlement is not the plough or the pickaxe, but the barrier and the lookout post. Security is not simply a condition for establishing a community; it is the organising principle.

October 7 brought that principle into sharper focus while exposing its central dilemma: an emphasis on fortified boundaries does not, by itself, guarantee safety. The failure of protection can nevertheless reinforce the demand for stronger defences rather than weaken faith in them.

The link between October 7 and “Wall and Tower” is therefore a question of continuity as much as change. The older model offers a lens through which to understand a security outlook in which the wall and watchtower remain central—security first, and ultimately last.