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Understanding the Psychology of Terrorist Behavior: How the Virtual "Pack" Stirs Lone Wolves to Action

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser - The common psychological denominator motivating and driving Palestinian terrorist attackers remains an intolerance of Israelis as the "other" and a willingness to act on that intolerance. While there is talk of a recent wave of Palestinian terrorism, attacks against Israelis have been ongoing and steady for many months. The perceptual difference is that while most of the recent deadly attacks took place in Israel within the pre-1967 boundaries, most of the other attacks occurred either in Jerusalem or in Judea and Samaria. In January 2022, before the most recent "wave," Rescuers Without Borders recorded over 400 attacks on Israelis with 24 injured. Terror activity among Palestinian Arabs includes a baseline of constant threat, with different levels exhibited at different times. This baseline includes throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli vehicles and buses in Judea and Samaria, and the use of incendiary balloons flown into Israeli territory from Gaza. To the degree that one lives in an environment where terror activity is valued, sanctioned, and admired, any such activity by an individual is reinforced, making the behavior more likely to be modeled by others and repeat itself in the future. For Palestinian Arabs, social media is rife with anti-Israel incitement. Moreover, schools, mosques, and public statements made by Palestinian Arab officials serve to promote and reinforce terror activity. In Palestinian society, group psychology can determine individual behavior. What is sanctioned by the group becomes the standard for the individual. Eliminating unorganized individual terror in a society where such behavior is culturally acceptable would require a change in the relationship between the cost of such behavior and the benefit of abstaining from it. Many Palestinian Arabs live in a virtual world of social networks that mirrors the society and environment they were raised in and still live in, one that does not accept the presence of a Jewish state anywhere within the area of Mandatory Palestine. As long as this world continues to exist as is, the lone wolf terrorist is a member of a dangerous and virtually invisible pack of wolves. Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center specializing in political psychology. Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, Director of the Project on Regional Middle East Developments at the Jerusalem Center, was formerly head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence.
2022-06-23 00:00:00
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