BETWEEN HOPE AND FEAR - A DIALOGUE ON THE PEACE PROCESS IN THE MIDDLE-EAST AND THE POLARIZED ISRAELI SOCIETY

The restarting of the pence process in the Middle East in 1993 raised the hopes of many in Israel for progress toward resolution of the Arab -Israeli conflict. Yet the Oslo agreements raised not only hope but al so fears. The latter triggered a deep schism and polarization within t he Israeli society. These led to a delegitimization campaign by those opposing the peace process that was directed both against the rational e underlying the change of policies and its architects Foreign Ministe r Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The escalation of pol arization saw the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin and the seemin g paradox of an election victory for the political rightist parties' c andidate Binyamin Netanyahu. Two Israeli social scientists present in dialogue form alternative psychopolitical perspectives and interpretat ions of the evolution of these critical events.