ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what promises to be a critical turning point in Israeli public discourse on national security. It analyzes how the social project of developing mental coping skills to alleviate emotional experiences of fear and anxiety has merged with the dominant Israeli ethos of nationalism, enmeshing itself in two contradictory yet hegemonic notions of "victimhood" and "aggression." Three discursive practices gain prominence in this fairly notion of resilience. The first: mixing clinical concerns regarding traumatic and post-traumatic symptoms with snippets from the political dynamic between Israel and the Palestinians. The second: linkage between various social players based on their planned collaborations toward preventing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and developing resilience among Israeli residents. The third: moving back and forth between an "emergency" mode and a mode of "daily routine." Once framed and then praised as resilience, fortifying entire communities against post-traumatic symptoms joins esteem for heroism as an emotional and social standard.
