ABSTRACT
Processes of personification and polarization in the Israeli Foundation Matrix are illustrated by the story of the ‘rise and fall’ of MZ – a well-known religious public figure – who placed himself in a tragic position of mediating the ‘culture of life’ and the ‘culture of death’ in Israeli society. The dynamics of the tripartite matrix of Israeli society are examined in the context of the collapse of internal and external boundaries. The mobilization of splitting mechanisms is interpreted as a last defence against total chaos following extreme collective trauma, enhanced by corrupt leadership in times of Corona. MZ’s personal and unique story is anchored in the context of the development of the notion of the ‘subject’ in the history of psychoanalytic ideas.
