Group identity gravely impacts intergroup conflict. The tendency of conflict groups to retain strong a ethnocentric perspective, ingroup bias, and collective identity creates greater divisions between the groups. This leads to the delegitimization of the other and justifications of violence against them. These phenomenon can be expected in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conflict causes Palestinians to become a mistrustful minority, while Jewish Israelis are a dominant majority protective of their Zionism aspirations (Smooha, 1987). Resentment also stems from cultural differences in language, nationality, and lifestyles (Smooha, 1987). These factors influence the groups’ identities in respect to each other, and induce greater polarization between them.
In this section, we will examine the impacts of group identity on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of ethnocentrism, ingroup bias, and collective identity. We will see then briefly explore how this impacts groups’ justifications of violence against each other.