Daily Alert Archives

U.S. Survey: Israel's Planned Offensive in Rafah, Gaza, and the "Two-State Solution"

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Irwin J. Mansdorf, Ph.D - Psychological-cognitive factors such as "context" influence individual perception and perspective, viz., the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The notion of "cognitive set," where first impressions create a temporary readiness to think or interpret information in a particular way, applies here. On the one hand, we found that providing brief background information on the current war against Hamas did not change perceptions of how individuals viewed the war. However, providing specific, factual aspects related to Palestinian behavior did change attitudes regarding support for a Palestinian state. Basic support for a Palestinian state among our American sample was about 43%. When introducing specific cognitive conditions, support was reduced to between 20-38%. Results also show that support for an Israeli offensive in Rafah increases with the knowledge that Hamas refuses to surrender and release the kidnapped hostages. The shift in attitude, when presented with realistic scenarios, is a crucial tool in the potential psychological and cognitive presentation of issues such as continued Israeli military action and consideration of support for a Palestinian state. The writer is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center specializing in political psychology.
2024-02-23 00:00:00
Full Article