One of the most debated scenarios relating to potential security complications in the Palestinian and Israeli controlled areas, is the rise of the so called “Salafi Jihadists”. This phenomenon has become especially significant given the vacuum in leadership within the Palestinian political arena.
Despite the relatively calm 2016, there are indications that there is increasing unrest among Palestinians fueled by what appears to be heavy handed over-reaction to attacks by some Palestinian on Israeli targets.
The contemporary Palestinian political history shows that defeat and political failures had a huge effect on the Palestinian political identity, and public reactions.
In the case of the Jewish people there have been several historical events and circumstances that have shaped the collective strategic culture of the modern Israeli state. The most significant of these have been the subjection to exile and persecution, particularly in the late 19th century and the Nazi Holocaust. The latter, cataclysmic event claimed the lives of an estimated six million Jews. Such an event inevitably, and dramatically, affects collective attitudes. In other words, it is the collective memory of the Diaspora that has shaped the current Israeli Siege Mentality, and which is now one of the cornerstones of Israeli strategic culture.
