Is Peace Possible? 

After being in conflict for so long, the attention towards finding resolutions has increased. The most important component to peace-making is the willingness to compromise between the two disputing groups however the cause of the continual dispute is the combined lack of agreement and public support. In Israel, large sectors of the jewish population have a strong opposition towards any form of concessions with the Palestinians. This majority opposition directly impacts the ability of policymakers.

Realist Approach

Security Dilemma

Security dilemma is a concept which refers to the situation in where, in order to feel safe from the opposing group, a group increases their strength and power. Once they have achieved this they feel comfortable with compromise. However, the opposing group now feels the fear and need to increase their strength and power, and so the cycle continues. (Maoz, I., & McCauley, C. (2005))

The situation and relationship of Israeli jews and the Palestinians can be seen as an everlasting security dilemma. Focusing on the perceived threat of the outgroup by the ingroup can directly influence how the the ingroup feels about negotiation and compromise.

Social-Psychological Approach

This approach entertains the idea that the prominent fear of the ingroup is that the outgroup possesses malevolent intentions. Therefore in a situation of perceived threat, what matters isn’t the logical understanding of the threat but the reaction it invokes. “Given a perceived threat, it is not the cold cognition of threat that is important but the affective reaction to the threat. These group emotion responses are seen as causal of the group’s behavior. According to modern theorizing of emotions, the situation acts as the initiator of an emotion. (Maoz, I., & McCauley, C. (2005))

Both approaches agree that fear of threat plays an integral role in the behavior of ingroups. They differ in that the psychological approach considers the results of appraisal as an independent factor that determines behavior. “Appraisal and affect are not identical because different individuals can draw different appraisals from the same objective situation, and because individuals with the same appraisal can differ in emotional reaction.”(Maoz, I., & McCauley, C. (2005))