We know that democracy, more than any other form of government, depends for its survival on public support. But can that support be sustained during periods of internal or external crisis, which often engender disappointment in the institutions of government? Seeking to answer that question, this book examines the attachment to democratic values and institutions in Israel, a country experiencing ongoing internal and external tensions. Ever since 1967, the long and bitter debate in Israel over the fate of the occupied terrorists and, more broadly, a just resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict has polarized public opinion, with the differences perceived as existential. Peres and Yuchtman-Yaar explore to what extent and with what mechanisms Israeli democracy copes with this pressure. Can extreme solutions (annexation of Palestinian lands on the one side, the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state on the other) be integrated into a system of public debate, free elections, and the rule of law? Which sectors of the population are imbued with the ideology of democracy, and which sectors give priority to other goals or needs? The authors investigate these issues, drawing on a series of public opinion surveys conducted in 1987 through early 1991. They also discuss the fairly predictable impact of four years of intifada on Israeli democratic attitudes, in contrast to the surprising reaction to the Gulf War and the Iraqi missile attacks.
