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Source: https://www.jns.org/opinion/irwin-j-mansdorf/israels-borders-are-also-a-psychological-frontier
Oct. 7 Was a Psychological Awakening
(JNS) Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf - After the Hamas-led massacre of 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, it's no longer possible to speak about defensible borders in purely military or cartographic terms. A border is not truly defensible if the people living behind it do not believe that it can protect them. It is not defensible if parents cannot send their children to school without calculating the range of anti-tank missiles. It is not defensible if entire communities remain displaced for months, uncertain whether returning home is an act of resilience or an act of recklessness. Most importantly, it is not defensible if citizens believe the enemy's ultimate goal is their total destruction and elimination. This is the reality now facing Israel's citizens. A psychological border is the line between a society that feels protected and a society that feels exposed. It is the internal frontier of public trust, civic endurance and collective confidence. Once that frontier is breached, concrete walls and sophisticated sensors are not enough. Oct. 7 was a psychological awakening. Israelis all identified with each other. They understood that no one in the country is immune from the threat posed by enemies who live by a code of jihad or a national consciousness that refuses to recognize their right to exist. For many outside observers, the Arab-Israeli conflict is still understood primarily as a territorial dispute. The assumption is that if the right lines are drawn, the right guarantees are issued and the right diplomatic pressure is applied, then stability can be restored. But this view underestimates the ideological nature of the threats Israel faces, especially from jihadist and Islamist movements that do not see the conflict as a negotiable disagreement over borders, but as a struggle over Israel's very legitimacy and existence. In ordinary territorial conflicts, compromise can be a strategic endpoint. In jihadist frameworks, compromise is often viewed as temporary, tactical or illegitimate. Withdrawal may create space for rearmament, indoctrination and the next assault. Hamas turned Gaza into a fortified terror enclave after Israel's withdrawal in 2005. Ballistic missiles threaten every corner of Israel. This is why Israelis need a new security reality. They need to know that the ability of Hizbullah, Hamas, Iran and Palestinians in Judea and Samaria to threaten their homes, schools and roads has been decisively reduced. Any diplomatic arrangement that looks acceptable in Washington or Brussels, but is not trusted by the people who must live next to eliminationist forces, will not be sustainable. Diplomacy is essential, but diplomacy that ignores psychological reality will not produce security. Israel is seeking the minimum condition for national life: the ability of citizens to live securely in their own homes. The writer is a clinical psychologist and a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, specializing in political psychology.