The Struggle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada

David Jaeger, Esteban Klor, Sami Miaari () and M. Daniele Paserman

No 3439, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper examines how violence in the Second Intifada influences Palestinian public opinion. Using micro data from a series of opinion polls linked to data on fatalities, we find that Israeli violence against Palestinians leads them to support more radical factions and more radical attitudes towards the conflict. This effect is temporary, however, and vanishes completely within 90 days. We also find some evidence that Palestinian fatalities lead to the polarization of the population and to increased disaffection and a lack of support for any faction. Geographically proximate Palestinian fatalities have a larger effect than those that are distant, while Palestinian fatalities in targeted killings have a smaller effect relative to other fatalities. Although overall Israeli fatalities do not seem to affect Palestinian public opinion, when we divide those fatalities by the different factions claiming responsibility for them, we find some evidence that increased Israeli fatalities are effective in increasing support for the faction that claimed them.

Keywords: Israeli-Palestinian conflict; public opinion; fatalities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D74 H56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2008-04
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Journal of Public Economics, 2012, 96 (3-4), 354-368

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp3439.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The struggle for Palestinian hearts and minds: Violence and public opinion in the Second Intifada (2012)
Working Paper: The struggle for Palestinian hearts and minds: Violence and public opinion in the Second Intifada (2011)
Working Paper: The Struggle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada (2008)
Working Paper: The Struggle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada (2008)
Working Paper: The Struggle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada (2008)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3439

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().