ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud's first published reference to projection deals with the distrust of other people becoming a replacement for self-reproach in the condition of paranoia. While the partial projection ascribed the projected material to the other person, it was not seen as being turned back toward the projector. Public attitudes toward the territories occupied by Israel, which have not been assimilated—psychologically, politically, or legally—reflect more than just transient superego projections in Israel. In political process the projection of idealized qualities is most noticeable when people delegate their striving for ideal goals to their leaders and to the group. Projection of the function that judges what is ideal and what is not is manifested more subtly in political process. In political process most people—including psychodynamically oriented professionals—are disproportionately aware of external reality, and accord less legitimacy to the concurrent existence of a constant flow of unconscious motivations.
