Occupied Jerusalem- The scene of the families of detainees gathering in Tel Aviv on the day their relatives were released was an example of temporary community cohesion under the weight of shock, but behind the slogans and flags, the Israelis were living a different reality, characterized by a loss of trust among the components of society and the exchange of accusations between the government and the opposition, the army and politicians, and the religious and secular.
Although the sounds of cannons have stopped in Gaza, the true echo of the war is still reverberating inside Israel, where profound social and political repercussions are unfolding day after day that threaten to trigger an unprecedented internal crisis.
An in-depth opinion poll, which included 4,000 Israelis and was conducted over two years, showed that what began with a rare national unity in October 2023 turned, with the end of the war, into a wide societal rift and deep-rooted political polarization.
Societal transformations
The poll, conducted by researchers from Israeli universities under the supervision of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, showed that 77% of Israelis saw at the beginning of the war that “the external threat unites society,” but the percentage dropped sharply to 34% after only two years, as 66% said in this October poll that the war deepened internal division instead of uniting the ranks.
The poll published by The Marker magazine also showed that 61% of participants believe that the internal danger of polarization, social division, and escalating political violence “poses a greater threat to Israel’s future than any external threat, whether from Iran, Hamas, or Hezbollah.”
This shift in the Israelis’ view of the sources of threat reflects, according to the survey’s authors, the erosion of trust within society and the growing concern about the collapse of national cohesion, which has long been considered the basic pillar of Israeli national security in the face of regional threats.
Regarding the issue of ensuring long-term security for Israel, the poll revealed that 66% of Israelis believe that the way to achieve future stability lies in investing in military achievements within political agreements, and not in relying on force alone.
71% of government opponents believe that the solution cannot be military, while the poll shows a division within the coalition camp itself, as 47% of its voters consider that political agreements are necessary to achieve security, compared to 53% who prefer to rely on military superiority and refuse to make any political concessions.
The illusion of national unity
According to political psychologist Dr. Nimrod Nir, from the Agam Institute at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the war did not reduce the intensity of polarization in Israeli society as expected, but on the contrary, it deepened and expanded it.
Nir had headed a joint research team between Israeli universities, which included Dr. Gayle Talsher from the Hebrew University, Asa Shapira from Tel Aviv University, and Ariel David from the Hebrew University. The team launched an in-depth survey that included 4,000 participants in August 2023.
Since the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent developments during the months of war, the researchers followed the participants in repeated stages to measure changes in the attitudes of those surveyed.
Two years after the attack, the latest round of the study was conducted on a representative sample of adult Israeli citizens, revealing a picture of worsening internal division and a declining sense of national unity within Israel.
The political psychologist supervising the poll says, “According to the psychological literature, an external threat usually strengthens internal cohesion, but what happened in Israel was exactly the opposite. The war widened the rift instead of healing the wounds.” He adds, “The Israeli consensus today is superficial, more like a thin cover that conceals a political and social volcano that has been simmering for years.”
According to Nir, Israeli society, which united behind the slogan “We fight for existence,” found itself two years later facing harsher questions: “Who is responsible for the failure? Who will pay the price? Is it possible to repair what was broken in trust among Israelis?”
The war reinforced the division
Israeli society entered the war while it was experiencing an unprecedented peak of political and social polarization on the eve of October 7. The external threat – although it is usually known for its ability to strengthen social cohesion – may lead to the opposite result when society is fundamentally divided and turbulent, according to the results of the survey.
The survey showed that social media sites played a pivotal role in fueling division and deepening differences during the war, by amplifying hostile rhetoric and spreading conspiracy theories at an unprecedented pace.
The internal division in Israel also opened the door to external interventions that exploited the fragility of public discourse and the desire of broad groups to believe alternative narratives to reality. It indicates that foreign parties have succeeded during the past two years in employing social media to incite hatred and division among Israelis.
This combination of prior polarization, digital incitement, and political collusion constituted an ideal environment for the escalation of political violence and the consolidation of its legitimacy in public consciousness, which portends a further erosion of the cohesion of Israeli society after the war.
Slow social disintegration
The Israeli readings warned that “Israel, emerging from the Gaza war, is entering an internal war over its identity, between those who see it as a besieged Jewish national state, and those who want it to be a liberal democracy that faces the danger of erosion from within.”
Sivan Klingbeil, editor of The Marker magazine, says, “The effects of the war go beyond the political aspect and reach the Israeli social fabric itself. Polarization between religious and secular Jews has reached unprecedented levels, amid mounting anger over military exemptions for the Haredim, and the rise of voices within the army warning of the loss of motivation for military service.”
She pointed out that the tension between Eastern Jews and Ashkenazi (Western) Jews increased, and the economic gap also widened between the social classes that bore the burden of the war and those that remained on the margins.
Reading the results of the poll conducted by the Hebrew University, Klingbeil says, “The war on Gaza is no longer a unified national memory, but rather an open wound in the Israeli body. Each group sees it from its own angle, and each party is looking for an internal enemy to hold responsible.”
She added, “With the end of the war, Israel’s crises did not end, but rather a new phase of structural disintegration began, affecting the state, society, and the military institution alike.”
While the political leadership seeks to market the “security victory,” Klingebel believes that Israel has lost its most important internal battle, which is the battle of “trust and cohesion.” As one survey participant said, “We won a battle, but we lost ourselves.”