ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the insights of social psychology to throw a positive new light on the impact of the pandemic on conflicts in the Holy Land. The main point raised by those hoping that the pandemic would have a decisive role in advancing Palestinian–Israeli relations is that a shared goal like fighting the coronavirus would elicit intergroup cooperation and trust. In the last decade, the average conflict-related death toll in Israel–Palestine has been around fifty deaths a month, 95% of whom are Palestinian. Israel’s general elections were held on March 2, several days after the first Israeli virus carriers were confirmed. Partial lockdown was already implemented when the final election results came in. The necessity to see Palestinian citizens of Israel as an integral, indispensable part of the Israeli collective was made clear during the coronavirus outbreak, when thousands of Arab medical personnel, doctors, nurses, and technicians, took an active part in battling Coronavirus disease -19.
