ABSTRACT
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 the matter of bereavement has constituted a central plank in the shaping of relations between civil society and the defence and political establishments. Bereaved parents' forgiving attitude to the establishment, and especially their faith in it, provided psycho-political legitimization of the first order to the policies shaped by the country's prime ministers. This chapter explains the fashioning of the Political Bereavement model which emerged after the Yom Kippur War, intensified after the Lebanon War of 1982 and has remained an integral part of Israeli society. It provides a politico-historical phenomenological methodology, exposing readers to beliefs, feelings and motives that underlie the actions and behaviour of members of the bereaved families. Culture offers the public a 'toolbox' of customs, motives and strategies for action and reactions to various events, including crises.
