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Collective Trauma and National Behavior in Times of Threat—The Israeli Public and the 2014 War in Gaza



Author(s)

Irit Keynan

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DOI:10.17265/2328-2177/2016.05.003

College for Academic Studies, Or Yehuda, Israel

This paper analyzes the impact of past trauma on national behavior in times of threat, applying Volkan’s (2001, 2004) theory of multigenerational impact of trauma on large groups, and La Capra’s (2014) theory of the use of the concept of individuals’ trauma for understanding the behavior of traumatized collectives. The study of the Israeli response to the abduction and murder of three teenagers in summer 2014 is consistent with these theories, and shows how a collective with trauma in its past behaves similarly to a posttraumatic person. The paper contends that due to its traumatic past, the Jewish Israeli public perceived a tragic but limited (from a national security standpoint) hostile action as a grave collective threat, which invoked past demons and brought back existential fears. These feelings were inflamed by the Israeli media and leaders, paving the way for an escalation of the event into an armed battle.

Trauma, War, conflict, Israel, Palestine, Collective Memory, culture