Five years of Palestinian violence did little to dent the national sentiment in Israel, a recent study conducted by Tel Aviv University showed.
According to the university’s Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Israelis have shown a remarkable capability of withstanding hardships in the last five years of the intifada, as
optimism and stability pervaded Israel.
“If the intifada was meant to roil the foundations of Israeli society and cause destabilization, it has certainly failed in doing so,” said Meir Elran, the researcher who conducted the study.
'Public has been capable of withstanding terror offensives'
“The Israeli public has shown built-in sensibility in reacting to terror attacks. Fear, anxiety, seclusion and rage against Palestinian
terror are characteristic reactions. Yet usually, soon after difficult periods of terror, we notice a quick liberation from tension and a back to business as usual,” said Elran.
In addition, the study showed the Israeli public to be optimistic despite the intensity of Palestinian terror attacks during the intifada. “Even during the most difficult periods, the Israeli public has been capable of withstanding hard terror offensives. In most cases tested, the public expressed a belief that the future will be better – on the personal and social levels,” said Elran.
Elran added that the Israeli public has been consistent in keeping a national consensus in dealing with the Palestinians, the Arab world and terror attacks. The national consensus fostered a sense of solidarity that tempers the threat of terror attacks to Israeli society.
If anything, the study disproves Hizbullah’s Hassan Nasrallah, who said the intifada has rendered Israeli society as soft as a spider web.
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