A Swastika in the Temple

For the vast majority of contemporary Israelis, the Holocaust is an acquired memory. However, over the years its presence has not diminished but rather is on the rise. We describe how perceptions of the Holocaust have changed from “what Israeliness is not” in the 1940s and 1950s to a core element in Israeli identity. Inspired by Bauer, we present four different and sometimes incompatible voices related to the Holocaust that greatly affect the Israeli society. They are: Never be a passive victim; never forsake your brothers; never be passive bystander; and never be a perpetrator. Experimental evidence related to these voices is also described.

Political Psychology

This research tested whether chronic or contextually activated Holocaust exposure is associated with more extreme political attitudes among Israeli Jews. Study 1 (N 5 57), and Study 2 (N 5 61) found that Holocaust primes increased support for aggressive policies against a current adversary and decreased support for political compromise via an amplified sense of identification with Zionist ideology. These effects, however, were obtained only under an exclusive but not an inclusive framing of the Holocaust. Study 3 (N 5 152) replicated these findings in a field study conducted around Holocaust Remembrance Day and showed that the link between Holocaust exposure, ideological identification, and militancy also occurs in real-life settings. Study 4 (N 5 867) demonstrated in a nationally representative survey that Holocaust survivors and their descendants exhibited amplified existential threat responses to contemporary political violence, which were associated with militancy and opposition to peaceful compromises. Together, these studies illustrate the Holocaustization of Israeli political cognitions 70 years later.

Israel Studies, 2003

Public remembrance of the Nazi-perpetrated Holocaust/Shoah has become a reference point for debates about national identity and ethical responsibility on a global scale but nowhere more than in the Middle East. The state of Israel bases its national identity narrative to a large extent on the Shoah, with the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem and further Holocaust remembrance sites and events as symbolic anchors for the linkage between its creation and the resistance and suffering of the Holocaust victims. Hostile reactions to this narrative of Israel’s national identity range from denial of the historicity of the Jewish Holocaust to claims that since 1948, Palestinians have been suffering a ‘new’ Holocaust. The chapter uses cognitive metaphor/analogy theory to distinguish such instrumentalizations from genuine Holocaust-memory. In conclusion it is argued that pseudo-historical analogies have a significantly detrimental effect on the reconciliation process in the Middle East.

Genealogy, 2022

Much has been written about the representation of the Holocaust in Israel, but there is less awareness to its effects on attitudes toward democracy and the universal meaning of human rights. Representations of the Holocaust by Israeli socialization agents usually focus on hatred toward Jews, disregarding the broader theoretical-ideological context. This tendency is typical to groups that suffered such severe traumas in their past. Nonetheless, we argue that it does not allow a healing process and fosters a reduced perspective on the essential principles of democracy. It also particularizes the concept of human rights, thus excluding those of “others,” such as Palestinians. We further argue that a more extensive perspective on the Holocaust, which includes an understanding of Nazism within an ideological mosaic that denies democratic principles and humanity, may strengthen Israelis’ identification with democratic principles and universal human rights. We analyze the different approaches to teaching the Holocaust in the context of the collective trauma and explore their impact on society’s sense of victimhood and moral injury. The paper ends with a suggestion for further research that will explore the possibility that a school curriculum that emphasizes universal lessons will enable the memorialization of the Holocaust without succumbing to nationalistic perceptions.

The public memory of the Nazi-perpetrated Jewish Holocaust/Shoah has become a reference point for debates about national identity and ethical responsibility on a global scale but nowhere more than in the Middle East. The state of Israel bases its national identity narrative to a large extent on the Shoah, with the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem and further Holocaust remembrance sites and events as symbolic anchors for the linkage between its creation and the resistance and suffering of the Holocaust victims. Hostile reactions to this narrative of Israel’s national identity range from denial of the historicity of the Jewish Holocaust to claims that since 1948, Palestinians have been suffering a ‘new’ Holocaust. The chapter uses cognitive metaphor/analogy theory to distinguish such instrumentalizations from genuine Holocaust-memory. In conclusion it is argued that pseudo-historical analogies have a significantly detrimental effect on the reconciliation process in the Middle East.

Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture, 2016

This paper analyzes the instrumentalization of references to and commemoration of the Shoah for the purpose of analogical quasi-identification with victims in order to legitimize present-day policies in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Using cognitive scenario analysis, three case studies of such quasi-identification are investigated: a) West German terrorists’ self-presentation as ‘anti-Nazi resistance’ fighters, b) self-construction of political groups in Israel as the ‘heirs’ of Nazi-victim/ghetto fighters and c) self-stylization of Palestinian groups as victims of a ‘new Holocaust’. It is argued that such analogies can become conceptual barriers that impede progress towards a peaceful conflict resolution and need to be critically de-constructed.