By Alex Gordon
HAIFA, Israel — The State of Israel has been in danger since its creation: wars, terrorism, regional hostility. Paradoxically, international antisemitism has intensified after the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, leading to an arms embargo against Israel by several countries. In recent years, a threatening major internal national conflict has been added to military threats and dangers.
The word “demonization” has earned a place in political science dictionaries. Unfavorable politicians and country leaders are demonized. The troubles and failures that have befallen countries are attributed to one person, the head of state or the head of government. Since only the devil can possess an infinite set of negative qualities, such demonization, or devilization of a person is irrational. It is a consequence of the emotional stress of demonizers and dehumanizers. Therefore, it’s closer to a propaganda technique than to establishing the truth. It is closer to simplifying reality than to understanding it.
In psychotherapy, there’s a term called transference. Transference can be negative (demonization) and positive (idealization). Demonizing the head of state or government is the transfer of negative emotions onto an unpopular political figure who embodies broken hopes. A person who demonizes their opponent’s personality experiences disappointment due to the disruption of their plans, the destruction of their schemes, and the impossibility of satisfying their political aspirations. Canadian American educator and writer Lawrence Peter notes in his book The Peter Principle: “Democracy is a process by which people freely choose their scapegoats.”
Polish American political scientist Adam Przeworski famously defined democracy as a system in which ruling parties lose elections. Since 2019, the opposition in Israel has not recognized the legitimacy of the victories in the Knesset elections of the coalitions led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Protests against his government have been and continue to be held under various slogans: judicial reform, ending the war in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, a law on the conscription of ultra-religious Jews, a commission of inquiry into the tragedy of October 7, 2023.
After the coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in November 2022, Israeli society shifted from ideological disagreements to polarization “for” and “against” the prime minister. Ideology was frozen and took a backseat, while psychology came to the forefront, meaning a personalized interpretation of political reality, demonization by the prime minister’s opponents, and idealization by his supporters. All the problems were replaced by the slogans “Anyone but Netanyahu” and “Only Netanyahu.”
This kind of polarization resembles a national psychosis, and this way of thinking, “only for” or “only against” the prime minister, is like a psychological black hole from which a person cannot escape. He stops being a thinking person and becomes a passenger on a train traveling in a dark tunnel where there can be no light, meaning there are no alternatives. In his “only for” or “only against” behavior, Netanyahu has led the people of Israel to act as if they are intoxicated and in a state of turmoil. He reduces a complex problem to a choice between black and white, with each side having its own black and its own white. This is black-and-white thinking.
Polarized, or dichotomous, “all or nothing” thinking is a cognitive distortion where a person perceives the world, events, and people in extreme categories, ignoring the “gray” shades and intermediate options. This thinking characterizes the existential crisis of society and the threat to Israel’s security. It resembles the polarization of Jews during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, which weakened the community defending against the invaders and led to the destruction of the Second Temple.
The deep social division within Israeli society encourages its enemies to attack the country. One of the reasons for Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, was the powerful protests against judicial reform, which included calls to refuse to serve in the Israeli army.
The terrorists decided that Israel’s defense capabilities had been critically weakened. The opposition protests were held under the slogans of defending democracy. However, a fierce struggle for democracy is one method of undermining it. A similar concern was expressed by British author John le Carré in his book Our Kind of Traitor (2010): “It’s like the old Soviet joke we used to tell each other back in the Cold War: there’ll be no war, but in the struggle for peace, not a stone will be left standing.”
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Alex Gordon is professor emeritus of physics at the University of Haifa and at Oranim, the Academic College of Education, and the author of 12 books. a
re: “Politics in Israel have devolved …”
Erich Fromm’s “Escape from Freedom” has something to say about this as well. There are circumstances where majorities of national populations are or become content with a dictator. This lack of accountability can and often does lead to disaster for millions.