ABSTRACT
Many obstacles stand in the way of resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some are related to international, regional, and domestic factors; others concern security and resource distribution. However, at the heart of every macro-level cause exists a powerful socio-psychological infrastructure that dictates Palestinians’ and Israelis’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. Our main argument is that the conflict is anchored chiefly in psychological factors, which are, by nature, subjective. We continue to argue that the resolution of the conflict can only be attained by systematically challenging these subjective factors. We begin by presenting the rationale of the socio-psychological infrastructure of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. We then describe four key societal beliefs and related collective emotions that serve as pillars of the social-psychological infrastructure and exemplify how they are manifested in the Palestinian and Israeli societies. We conclude by describing how the socio-psychological infrastructure can be challenged, highlighting some implications of the socio-psychological approach to conflict resolution in Palestine-Israel.
