Bar-Tal, D. (1998). The rocky road toward peace: Societal beliefs functional to intractable conflict in Israeli school textbooks. Journal of Peace Research, 35, 723-742.
1
The study reported in this paper was supported by a grant from NCJW Research Institute for
Innovation in Education, School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The author expresses his deepest gratitude to Karmit Hadas and Guy Asharov who helped to carry out the content analysis of the school textbooks. Requests for reprints should be sent to
Daniel Bar-Tal, School of Education, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.

Societal Beliefs 2
Abstract
Since the late seventies the Israeli-Arab conflict has become less intractable and in the last years the Middle East has changed beyond recognition. The present research attempts to discover whether the changes in the nature of the Israeli-Arab relations are followed by complementary changes in the conflict's ethos of the Israeli society as reflected in school textbooks. One hundred and twenty-four textbooks on Hebrew language and literature
(readers), history, geography and civic studies, approved for use in the school system
(elementary, junior-high, and high schools in the secular and religious sectors) by the
Ministry of Education in March 1994, were content analyzed. The analysis examined the extent to which the textbooks presented societal beliefs reflecting ethos of conflict: societal beliefs of security, positive self image, victimization, delegitimization of the opponent, unity and peace. The findings do not reveal a unified picture. Books, subject matters, level of schools and sectors differ in their emphasis on the investigated societal beliefs. The analysis shows that societal beliefs of security received most emphasis; subsequently the societal beliefs of positive self image and Jews victimization appeared. Societal beliefs of unity and of peace appeared infrequently. Finally, the analysis shows a very rare delegitimization of
Arabs, but the majority of books stereotype Arabs negatively. These findings are discussed in the framework of the required changes in the societal ethos that must accompany the peace process which has dramatically altered the nature of the Israeli-Arab relations.

Societal Beliefs 3
The Rocky Road Toward Peace: Societal Beliefs Functional to Intractable Conflict in
Israeli School Textbooks
Since the late seventies the Israeli-Arab conflict has become less intractable and has moved on to the rocky road leading to peace. The peace agreement with Egypt and the events following the Madrid conference in 1991, have changed the Middle East beyond recognition.
It is vital to ask whether these changes in the nature of the Israeli-Arab relations are followed by complementary changes in the ethos of the societies that were involved in the intractable conflict. The objective of the present paper is to examine this question by focusing only on the Israeli society. This is done by analyzing the Israeli school textbooks, in use in the school year 1994-95, which are assumed to express the leading societal beliefs of the ethos. First, however, the paper will discuss the nature of intractable conflict and the societal beliefs which emerge in order to cope with it successfully. Subsequently a study which analyzed the reflection of these societal beliefs in the Israeli school textbooks will be reported.
Intractable conflicts are defined as being protracted, irreconcilable, violent, of zero sum nature, total, and central, and parties involved have an interest in their continuation (see
Azar, McLaurin & Jureidini, 1978; Bar-Tal, 1996; Goertz & Diehl, 1993; Kriesberg, 1995); they are demanding, stressful, painful, exhausting and costly both in human and material terms. This requires that society members develop conditions which enable successful coping. One type of the condition is a psychological infrastructure which consists, for example, of devotion to the society and country, high motivation to contribute, persistence, readiness for personal sacrifice, unity, solidarity, determination, courage, maintenance of the societies' objectives and endurance. This psychological infrastructure enables a society which copes with an intractable conflict to adapt to the conflict situation, survive the stressful

Societal Beliefs 4 period, and struggle successfully with the enemy (see Bar-Tal, 1996 for the details of this conceptual framework).
Bar-Tal (1996) proposed that societal beliefs fulfill an important role in the formation of the psychological conditions which enable a society's successful coping with intractable conflict. Societal beliefs are defined as society members' shared cognitions on topics and issues that are of special concern for their society and contribute to their sense of uniqueness.
They are part of society's ethos (Bar-Tal, in preparation). These beliefs construct society members' view of the conflict and motivate them to act. They thus provide the informational and motivational base which are of crucial importance for societal action. Society members have to believe in certain ideas to bear the stress and hardship of intractable conflict, and they must be motivated to act on behalf of the society and to harm the enemy. In the abovementioned conceptual framework, eight societal beliefs were suggested to fulfill the above described role and thus serve as a kind of ideology of conflict.
Societal beliefs about the justness of one's own goals deal with the reasons, explanations and rationales of the goals which lead to the conflict and, foremost, justify their crucial importance. They motivate the society members to struggle and fight for these goals and they allow to endure and bear the sacrifices, losses, stresses and costs of the intractable conflict.
Societal beliefs about security stress the importance of personal safety and national survival, and outline the conditions for their achievement. In the context of intractable conflict, beliefs about military conditions which allow maintenance of security, including heroism on the part of the soldiers, are of special importance. These beliefs are essential for a society engaged in intractable conflict which involves violence in the form of hostile acts and wars. They give security a high priority, serve as a rationale for personal and societal

Societal Beliefs 5 decisions and actions, mobilize the society members for active participation in the conflict and forge them to live in stressful conditions.
Societal beliefs of positive self image concern the ethnocentric tendency to attribute positive traits, values and behavior to own society. In times of intractable conflict special effort is made to propagate on the one hand characteristics related to courage, heroism, or endurance and on the other hand characteristics related to humaneness, morality, fairness, trustworthiness and progress. Those characteristics are presented in contrast to the enemy allowing for a clear differentiation between the two parties. Moreover, these beliefs supply moral strength and a sense of own superiority.
Societal beliefs of own victimization concern self-presentation as a victim, especially in the context of the intractable conflict. The focus of these beliefs is on the unjust harm, evil deeds and atrocities perpetrated by the adversary. They provide the moral incentive to seek justice and oppose the opponent as well as allow mobilization of moral, political and material support of the international community.
Societal beliefs of delegitimizing the opponent concern beliefs which deny the adversary's humanity. Through dehumanization, extreme negative trait characterization, outcasting, use of political negative labels and negative group comparison, a society categorizes the opponent "into extreme negative social categories which are excluded from human groups that are considered as acting within limits of acceptable norms and/or values"
(see Bar-Tal, 1989, p. 170). These beliefs explain the causes of the conflict's outbreak, its continuation and the violence of the opponent. They also justify of own hostile acts.
Societal beliefs of patriotism generate attachment to the country and society, by propagating loyalty, love, care and sacrifice (Bar-Tal, 1993). Patriotic beliefs increase cohesiveness and dedication, and serve an important function for mobilizing the society members to actively participate in the conflict and endure hardship and difficulties.

Societal Beliefs 6
Societal beliefs of unity refer to the importance of ignoring internal conflicts and disagreements during intractable conflict in order to unite the forces in the face of the external threat. These beliefs strengthen the society from within, develop a consensus and feelings of belonging, increase solidarity, and allow directing society's forces and energy to coping with the enemy.
Finally, societal beliefs of peace refer to peace as the ultimate desire of the society.
They present peace as an ultimate goal of the society and society members as peace loving.
Such beliefs have the role of inspiring hope and optimism. They strengthen positive self image and contribute to empathic self-presentation to the outside world.
It is assumed that these societal beliefs can be found in societies engaged in intractable conflict especially those that successfully cope with it. These beliefs are far from being sufficient to win a conflict. Other conditions of military, political, economic nature must also be fulfilled. But these beliefs are necessary for enduring the intractable conflict.
Israeli society is a major instance of a 20th century society involved in an intractable conflict (Azar, McLaurin & Jureidini, 1978; Sandler, 1988 ). The Israeli-Arab conflict has been going on for about 100 years, reaching its lowest point in the late forties, fifties, sixties and early seventies, when it had all the characteristics of an intractable conflict. In these violent years societal beliefs functional for coping with intractable conflict -- beliefs about the justness of the Jewish-Israeli goals, about security, about the positive image of Jews, about the victimization of Jews, about delegitimization of Arabs, about patriotism, about unity and about peace -- were propagated in the Israeli society. The efforts to instill them were intentional and unintentional, carried out both directly and indirectly through various societal channels of communication and via political, social, educational and cultural institutions. The society tried to inculcate these beliefs by presenting them, repeating them, emphasizing them, basing norms on them, and turning them into primary values and goals.

Societal Beliefs 7
Eventually, they became part of the Israeli ethos. On their basis, language, symbols, myths and collective memories were constructed (see, for example, Kimmerling, 1984; Liebman &
Don Yehiya, 1983; Lissak, 1984).
However, since the mid seventies the Israeli-Arab conflict has started on its long way toward a solution. The disengagement agreements in 1975 between Israel and Syria and between Israel and Egypt marked the beginning of the road. The Camp David accord and the
1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement, the 1991 Madrid conference, the 1993 Oslo agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan, the subsequent establishment of formal relations between Israel and Morocco, informal relations between Israel and Persian Gulf countries, and the ongoing negotiations between Israel and
Syria -- all these are hallmarks of the peace process which continuously changes the relations between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. There is no doubt that even if the conflict between some Arab countries and Israel continues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not fully resolved as yet, the days of the intractable conflict are over. The Israeli society is moving through a transitional period towards an era of acceptance and recognition by most of the Arab countries.
In view of the above described changes, the present study poses the following research question: How dominating are the societal beliefs functional for successful coping with intractable conflict still in the Israeli society, when the peace process is well under way?
This question is of crucial importance because political change has to be accompanied by the evolvement of societal beliefs to support it. The societal beliefs which are functional for coping with intractable conflict also contribute to its continuation. They support far-fetched and uncompromising goals, ways and means for perpetuation of the conflict, and they foster perceptions of self and of the adversary which are detrimental for peaceful resolution of the conflict. These beliefs are part of the vicious cycles of violence which characterize

Societal Beliefs 8 intractable conflicts: while the development of and adherence to these beliefs fuel the violent conflict, violent behavior and irreconcilability feed commitment to the conflictual beliefs. It is therefore imperative that a peace process will also involve a change of those societal beliefs which inhibit it, and especially a change of beliefs related to the justness of own goals, delegitimization of the opponent, and to the peace process (Bar-Tal, 1995).
One way to examine the changes that the societal ethos (which includes societal beliefs) is going through is to content-analyze school books. School books, as part of the school knowledge, transmit the societal ethos from generation to generation (Apple, 1979;
Bourdieu, 1973; Luke, 1988). They "act as the interface between the officially state-adopted and sanctioned knowledge of the culture, and the learner. Like all texts, school textbooks remain potentially agents of mass enlightenment and/or social control" (Luke, 1988, p. 64).
Thus, school textbooks construct the social reality of the students. They enforce the vision of a society, or more accurately of the dominant and powerful elite, regarding, for instance, self-perception, values, required norms, societal goals, nature of relations with different outgroups, stereotypes of other groups (e.g., Apple & Christian-Smith, 1991; Meyer, 1977;
Paquett, 1991; Rothstein, 1991).
It can be assumed that school textbooks mold, at least partially, the world view of the learners because the books are perceived by students as authoritative and factual. Teachers rely on them to organize their lectures, demand that students memorize them, and use them as a principal basis for testing students' learning. For many students school textbooks are their first and sometimes only exposure to certain areas of knowledge. It is thus not surprising that social and educational researchers have often analyzed school textbooks in order to examine the dominating values or images of a society (Anyon, 1979; DeCharms & Moeller, 1962;
Ichilov, 1993; McClelland, 1961; Selden, 1989, Wiberg & Bloom, 1970).

Societal Beliefs 9
In the case of Israel the educational system played an important role in inculcation of the societal beliefs functional for successful coping with the intractable conflict in the fifties and sixties. Bar-Tal (1996), in a review of studies that analyzed Israeli school textbooks in history (Firer, 1985), geography (Bar-Gal, 1993), and Hebrew readers (Bezalel, 1989) that were in use at the climax of the Israeli-Arab intractable conflict, argued that these textbooks greatly emphasized these beliefs. However, these same studies detected changes in the school textbooks published in the seventies and eighties. Firer (1984) found that the history textbooks of the seventies and early eighties reduced their glorification of Jewish heroism and the presentation of myths, but they continued to express the national values and goals of
Zionism and to stress Jews' victimization through the centuries. They began to present Arab claims to what is now Israeli territory but viewed them as less justified than the Jewish rights.
The books eliminated delegitimizing labels of Arabs but continued to stereotype them negatively. The analysis also shows that the books of the seventies and early eighties were less prone to mythologize pioneers who serve as patriotic models in their sacrifice for Zionist values.
Bar-Gal (1993) analyzed geography textbooks used in the last hundred years. His findings indicate that in the first two decades of Israeli statehood "the needs of the society and the nation stood at the focs, and from these were drawn the subject matter objectives and learning contents" (p. 98). With time however "the needs of the individual and the structure of the subject matter turned into the important focus in planning the learning ..." (ibid.).
Specifically, Bar-Gal found that the geography textbooks of the seventies and eighties have diminished their emphasis on Zionist values by describing the landscape in a scientific and neutral way, by reducing the references to pioneers' sacrifices and by limiting the calls for realization of Zionist objectives. Moreover, this study found that the image of Arabs conveyed by these books changed over time, in the geography textbooks. In the seventies and

Societal Beliefs 10 eighties the image became less negative. The books emphasized the progress of the Arab population in Israel and in the occupied territories as a result of Jewish help. They continued to leave open the question of Israel's borders: "The writers of the books have never given up presenting the country with borders that were wider than the borders of the Jewish settlement in practice and the borders of the State of Israel after its foundation" (p. 135).
Bezalel (1989) who compared the Hebrew readers of the fifties and sixties with those of the seventies and eighties, noted that while in the first period Zionist values were the primary consideration for content selection, in the second period the literary value of the texts was the main criterion for inclusion in the readers. Specifically, Bezalel found a reduced emphasis on justifications of the Zionist solution. But at the same time, there was a new emphasis on the memory of the Holocaust, including heroic acts. Also, the readers continued to express societal beliefs of security, for instance, by their glorification of the heroism of the
Maccabees during their rebellion against the Greeks in ancient Israel, and of the Israelis in the present times, in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The present study examines the extent to which school books, used at the height of the peace process in 1994-95, still reflect societal beliefs that support the intractable conflict.
Specifically, the study content analyzed the school books used for Hebrew, history, geography, and civic studies with regard to their presentation of the following six clusters of societal beliefs: societal beliefs of security, of positive self image, of victimization, delegitimization of the opponent, unity and peace.
1 This is the first study that purposely examines the reflection of the societal beliefs of the conflictual ethos in the school textbooks.
It allows to determine whether the school textbooks express the changes that have taken place in the nature of he Israeli-Arab relations and prepares the Israeli youngsters to relate to the new Middle East in accordance to the new political reality.

Societal Beliefs 11
Methods
Analyzed School Books
One hundred twenty-four school textbooks were content analyzed to examine the extent to which they expressed the six following societal beliefs: beliefs of security, of positive self image, of Jews' victimization, of Arabs' delegitimization, of unity, and of peace.
(Their list appears in Appendix A).
These books were drawn from the list of approved school books for use in the Israeli educational system (elementary, junior-high, and high schools in the secular and the religious sectors) in the study year of 1994-95, published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in
March 1994.
2 The present study analyzed textbooks on Hebrew language and literature (i.e., readers), history, geography, and civic studies (see Tables 1-4 for the detailed description of books' distribution according to subject matters and type of schools).
3 In Hebrew language and literature only approved readers for the elementary schools (grades 1 to 6) and junior high schools (grades 7 to 9) were analyzed. In history the approved textbooks for the elementary, junior high and high schools were examined. In geography the approved school books that were analyzed referred either to geography of Israel specifically or of the Middle
East as a whole. Books considered in the category of civic studies were the approved elementary schools textbooks on "Homeland and social studies", which refer to the Israeli society in relation to Arabs. In addition, approved civic studies textbooks for the junior high schools, and those high school civic studies textbooks that referred to Arabs (see the list of analyzed books in Appendix A) were looked at.
Coding System
Books' references to the six societal beliefs were identified according to the following criteria:

Societal Beliefs 12
1. Beliefs of security . Recorded in this category were all references to: military activities carried out by Jews, heroic acts performed by Jews, functionality of an army, conditions for maintaining it and formation and maintenance of institutions and organizations whose function is to ensure security.
2. Beliefs of positive self image . This category included all the references to heroic acts by Jews, positive acts by Jews, their positive qualities, and uniqueness.
3. Beliefs of Jews' victimization . Recorded in this category were all the references to the persecution of Jews and to harm done to them by other nations, or to attempts to harm them, as well as references to prejudice against Jews and anti-Semitism.
4. Beliefs of Arabs' delegitimization.
This category consisted of all deligitimizing refernces to Arabs (i.e., to their behaviors, intentions and attitudes) as defined by Bar-Tal
(1989) - that is, labels which put Arabs in extremely negative terms, as a group which is denied humane treatment.
5. Beliefs of unity.
This includes all all the references dealing with descriptions of
Jewish unity, with the importance of unity and with the cost of division and disagreement.
6. Beliefs of peace.
Recorded in this category were all the references to Israel's love of and yearning for peace, references to the nature of peace and to attempts to resolve the Israel-
Arab conflict peacefully.
For each book the number of references to each of the described six beliefs was recorded. Subsequently these references were classified to one of the four following categories:
None: No reference in the book was found to a particular belief
Few: Between one to five references to a particular belief were found in the book

Societal Beliefs 13
Some: Over five references to a particular belief were detected in the book. But although the particular belief may dominate a chapter, it does not dominate most of the chapters.
Much: The particular belief dominates (i.e., there is frequent reference to it) either the whole book or the chapters which concern the Jewish history, the State of
Israel or the Jewish society.
About 30% of the books were coded by two judges with 93% of interjudge agreement found.
Readers
Readers constitute a collection of literary texts-- poems, stories, and excerpts from books -- selected by an editor who often also writes commentaries and/or connecting pieces.
The following analysis deals separately with first-grade readers as distinguished from the readers used for later elementary school grads, since during the first year of school children learn to read so that the texts used for them are limited in contents.
First Grade Readers
The majority of readers (6 out of 9) already introduces the reality of the Israeli-Arab conflict at this early school stage (see Table 1). In each of these six readers there are two or three pieces referring to soldiers (mostly members of the family), their mission and a suspected object which may be a bomb planted by a terrorist (e.g., Readers 1, 3, 7, 9) 4 . In one reader there is a reference to bereavement; it is a story about an orphan whose father fell in a war (Reader 8, p. 130).
Also in three readers there is at least one reference, but no more than two, to peace. It appears always in the form of a wish, hope, or a prayer (e.g., Readers 2, 7, 8). Almost none of the readers refers to Arabs, victimization of Jews, their positive image or the importance of

Societal Beliefs 14 unity. One reader includes a story about friendship between Jewish and Arab boys (Reader 1, p. 84). Only one reader (Reader 2) refers to all six examined societal beliefs. It presents one of the most important symbols of the Jewish society in Israel -- the Tel Hai story (pp. 87-88).
This story includes most of the investigated societal beliefs, related to the intractable conflict:
Crowds of Arabs attack a settlement populated by a handful of Jews. The Jews fight with bravery under the command of war hero Joseph Trumpeldor, who is fatally wounded. (In his last moments he says "It is good to die for the country" -- this ending does not appear in the first grade reader but appears in some readers of the later grades.) Thus, this story combines heroism, victimization of Jews, positive image of Jews and negative stereotyping of Arabs.
There are a few other stories in this reader which repeat these themes in different contexts.
Insert Table 1 about here
Elementary School (2nd - 6th grade) Readers
Whereas the first-grade readers only occasionally or rarely refer to conflict-related societal beliefs, readers used in the higher grades extend their preoccupation with these beliefs considerably. But analysis of the grade 2-6 readers in secular elementary schools shows that they vary in the extent of their focus on the societal beliefs functional for successful coping with the intractable conflict (see Table 1).
There are readers such as the one edited by Perski (Reader 28) for the third grade, or
Bergson's (Reader 20) for the 5th-6th grades, in which these societal beliefs appear relatively frequently, and there are also readers such as Cohen's (Reader 15) for the 3rd grade, or by
Meltzer and Prilock for the 5th and 6th grades (Reader 23) which have a completely different agenda and focus on beliefs that either emphasize beliefs of coexistence with Arabs and peace or focus entirely on themes unrelated to societal beliefs concerning the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Societal Beliefs 15
The most salient finding of the content analysis is that of the six societal beliefs, two relating to security and of victimization are relatively frequently presented (see Table 1).
Of the 20 analyzed readers for grades 2-6 of secular elementary schools, only four
(20%) do not refer to societal beliefs of security, while in 11 (55%) of them this belief features as a prominent theme. The preoccupation with the societal beliefs of security has various expressions. First of all, the readers glorify heroism: The described acts of heroism encompass different periods of the Jewish history: the rebellion of the Maccabees against
Greek rule in the second century, A.D. (e.g., Readers 10, 27) the rebellion against Rome which ended with the destruction of the second temple in 70 A.D. (e.g., Reader 11), the unsuccessful rebellion of Bar Kochva against Rome about seventy years later (e.g., Readers
11, 26), the pre-state struggle between Zionist pioneers and local Arabs especially the heroism of the defenders of Tel-Hai (e.g., Readers 20, 13), as well as the Jewish resistance against the Nazis during the Holocaust as for instance, the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto or the partisan struggle (Readers 16, 28), the Independence War (e.g., Readers 22, 24), the Six
Day War with the conquest of East Jerusalem (e.g., Readers 10, 20), and the Yom Kippur
War (e.g., Reader 28). These themes describe heroic acts of individuals or of particular groups (e.g., the Warsaw ghetto rebels, the defenders of Kibbutz Degania), or of the Jews as a collective, who were almost always a minority fighting (often successfully) a both stronger and quantitatively superior enemy. In some of the texts, there is an emphasis on the heroism of children, especially in stories dealing with the Holocaust and the Israeli-Arab conflict (e.g.,
Reader 19, p.194; Reader 22, p. 240).
A number of readers deal with human losses and bereavement, mostly in the context of Israel's wars with the Arabs (e.g., Readers 13, 18, 19, 22, 27). In almost all these instances reference is made to soldiers killed in hostile actions and their death is viewed as a sacrifice for the nation. These themes are mostly dealt with in the form of stories about orphans, but

Societal Beliefs 16 also about widows, describing their grief, their recollections, and their thoughts about the importance of sacrifice. Many of the stories that represetn beliefs about security glorify the
Israeli army and soldiers are presented as fulfilling the most important mission of defending the country. The soldiers are seen to act with an awareness of this mission and are prepared to sacrifice their lives for their homeland . In fact, the whole nation is presented as being "in arms", since the frequently described soldiers are also presented as brothers, fathers or husbands in the texts.
Finally, it should be noted that some of the readers include beliefs which express the basic symbols of security in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Following are several of their examples: "Israel's heroism runs through all the generations" (Reader 17, p. 136); "No one should abandon their homeland, because the homeland is life itself" (Reader 17, p. 192);
"Heroism does not cease with the death of the hero" (Reader 17, p. 192). "We will not ask for protection or for favors, but we will rely on our own force" (Reader 17, p. 195); "The homeland should be defended" (Reader 18, p. 183); "Eretz Israel is the land of the Jews and it is necessary to come to the land, to guard it and not to leave it" (Reader 18, p. 59); "We must fight to prevent the fall of Jewish Jerusalem -- the eternal city of the people of Israel" (Reader
19, p. 222); "We should not reveal our weakness to the Gentiles, we will stand upstrongly against them and prevail despite all their might. The people of Israel need courage or else it will be lost." (Reader 26, p. 103); "Our dream is to die for our people" (Reader 24, p. 235);
"This is a heroic war of all the soldiers" (Reader 28, p. 211); and "We fight down to the last bullet, not because our men are made from iron -- but because this is our life, and our life is like this" (Reader 24, p. 254). It should be noted that the above described societal beliefs about security also nourish patriotism. They pertain to the love of the country, loyalty and even readiness for sacrifice in its defense, and the presented heroes serve as patriotic models for the children who use these textbooks.

Societal Beliefs 17
The other leading theme in the readers is the victimization of the Jews. Of the analyzed 19 readers used in the elementary secular schools, six (30%) do not deal with the theme, while in 6 (30%) others it features prominently. In their preoccupation with Jews' victimization, the readers present the continuity of this phenomenon throughout the Jewish history. (Though none of the readers covers all of Jewish history.) Some readers begin the presentation of this theme with the description of Jews suffering in ancient Egypt as slaves especially in the context of the Passover narrative (e.g., Reader 19), and with the story of the
Jews' persecution in ancient Persia, in the context of the festival of Purim (e.g., Reader 22).
Images of victimization during two other periods of ancient history are also presented: the occupation of ancient Israel, first by the Greeks and later by the Romans. The readers' present Jews in both periods as victims of religious persecution and special laws (Readers 10,
28). As one reader, for example says: "The Greeks came to Eretz Israel and began to trouble the Jews" (Reader 10, p. 115). With the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews were exiled from their country and there are readers that present the two thousand years of diaspora exile as one long persecution by the Gentiles. As one of the readers has it, "During two thousand years Jews lived in the diaspora. They went through great hardship. The Gentiles hurt them, robbed them of their property, burned their homes, insulted them and even hounded them from country to country" (Reader 11, p. 170). In another reader, an Israeli child who visits
New York during Christmas says "in class we learned about the goyim who gave the Jews a hard time" (Reader 27, p. 79).
While only few readers deal with Jewish experience during the long history of exile, almost all of the readers, that refer to the victimization of Jews, are concerned with the
Holocaust. Several books even have special chapters devoted to the suffering of Jews during this tragic period (e.g., Readers 1, 13). These chapters contain mostly stories and poems about individuals' experiences and often they describe the fate of children. The victimization

Societal Beliefs 18 of the Jews is also presented in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict. These stories usually present the Jews, who returned to their homeland to lead a normal and peaceful life and to reestablish their state, as being harassed, attacked and murdered by Arabs. In the words of one reader, describing the first settlements in the Galilee, "We were lonely... pioneers surrounded by a sea of enemies and murderers" (Reader 17, p. 194). In all the stories it is the
Arabs who initiate violence against the Jews who are thus forced to defend themselves.
Finally, several readers transmit the theme of the victimization of Jews through a legend or a folk story. For example, in Cohen's reader (Reader 16) there is a story about a sheik who hates Jews and shells the Jewish quarter (p.100) or another story in the same reader tells about the bakers in Afghanistan who decided to poison the Jews (p. 231).
Thirteen (65%) of the readers of the elementary secular schools have at least one story which explicitly focuses on the positive image of Jewish Israelis. First of all, as the analysis of the societal beliefs about security indicates, Jews are described as heroic and brave fighters who struggle with their enemies even if they are in a minority. This image of Jews as active, responsive and initiating is one of the central messages in the readers. Jews do not yield easily to persecution but fight back, or outsmart their enemies. In their short history in Israel they are shown to take their destiny into their own hands and not to rely on anyone. They cultivate the desert and defend themselves successfully against the repeated Arab attacks. In this context, stories depict Israeli Jews in Israel as progressive, helpful, peace loving, determined, and educated, are greatly stressed. They have redeemed the land from desolation, they brought progress to Israel, and they enlightened and helped the Arab population (e.g., Readers 16, 7, 18). In one story, an Arab thankful for the help says to a Jew
"You should have come here twenty-thirty years ago, when I was a child. We were very poor" (Reader 17, p. 93). In addition, there are stories, especially legends, which portray

Societal Beliefs 19
Jews as smart and fair (e.g., Readers 18, p. 44: 19, p. 174), for example, the story about a Jew who helped his Arab friend to rebuild his wealth (Reader 16, p. 264).
The positive description of Jews contrasts with the description of Arabs. Although only six readers (i.e., 30% of the readers used in the secular elementary schools) present very incidental delegitimizing labels (mostly one) of the Arabs, still most of the books, when they relate to Arabs, stereotype them negatively. In general, however, it should be noted that most of the readers have very few pieces about Arabs or Jewish-Arab relations. Most of the references to Arabs are latent in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict, while the textual fragment focuses on the Jews.
First of all, there is a tendency to present Arabs as less educated, knowledgeable, progressive, and active than Jews. In general, Arabs are described as primitive, uneducated, passive people, without a will of their own (e.g., Reader 20). These stereotypes are also reflected in stories where Arabs are portrayed as poor farmers or shepherds (e.g., Reader 21, p. 192).
The stories describing early Arab-Jewish relations during the prestate period and after the establishment of the State of Israel are frequently of a violent nature. In all of them Arabs are the aggressors and it is in this context (especially in the story of Tel-Hai) that most of the labels that deligitimize Arabs as a "mob", "murderers", "rioters" appear (see for example,
Reader 10, p. 186-7; Reader 17, p. 192, 194; Reader 28, p. 169).
It should be noted though that the readers also contain positive images of Arabs.
These all are on an interpersonal level and describe a friendship between a Jew and an Arab or how an Arab helped a Jew (e.g., Readers 16, 17, 18, 25). In most of these stories the Arab is presented as a low-status person. Exceptional is a story about a Jewish family visiting a middle class, educated family in an Arab village (Reader 17, p. 91). In a few stories the
Jewish-Arab friendship ends with the eruption of hostilities (Reader 15, p. 304). Thus, for

Societal Beliefs 20 example Reader 14 includes a story about a friendship between a Jewish boy and Bedouin boy, which ends with the onset of the Independence war; then the Jewish boy reflects "Maybe they gave Abed a knife or a rifle, maybe they even agitated him to kill people" (p. 40).
Positive images of Arabs are also conveyed in stories which do not refer to Jewish-Arab relations. Those are stories focusing on Arabs as individuals, describing their way of life.
One reader (Reader 25) makes special effort to present a very humane picture of Arabs. It does not refer to conflicts, but describes the life of an Arab boy in a village somewhere in
Israel. Another reader (Reader 29) consists of 12 stories -- four written by Arab citizens of
Israel and eight written by Israeli Jews. All of the stories have the objective of promoting coexistence between Jews and Arabs by describing positive relations between them.
Explicit reference to unity in the Hebrew language readers of the elementary secular school is rare: it can be found in only five of the readers (25%). Some direct references to unity are for example: "All of Israel loves Jerusalem" (Reader 10, p. 250) or "One heart beat in us all -- the Jewish heart" (Reader 11, p. 177), or "We are all soldiers" (Reader 14, p. 138).
But the frequent inculcation of unity is achieved through numerous more indirect references to common tradition, history, and origin. Children learn about these commonalties and construct the boundaries of unity.
Finally, only two readers of the secular elementary schools devote a considerable place to the subject of peace, by devoting a chapter to it (Readers 14, 15). Two other readers mention peace briefly (e.g., Readers 14, 22). In general, peace is described rather vaguely, for instance by referring to it in utopian terms (Reader 13, p. 107; Reader 28, p. 214). Only one story refers to the peace with Egypt symbolized by the visit of President Sadat in
Jerusalem (Reader 14, p. 230).
In general, the readers of the religious elementary schools present the societal beliefs functional to the intractable conflict in ways that are similar to the approach used in the

Societal Beliefs 21 secular elementary schools. But these beliefs receive a more prominent place in the religious readers and the societal beliefs are presented through several new contents.
The religious elementary readers devote considerable attention to societal beliefs about security and victimization (see Table 1). In 36% of the readers security beliefs constitute a dominant theme and in 54% the theme is frequently mentioned. With regard to societal beliefs about victimization, in 27% of the textbooks they dominate and in an additional 27% they are frequently mentioned. As in the case of secular readers, the descriptions of heroism continue to be a major constituent of security beliefs. But here the theme is extended, at least in one reader, to heroic acts described in the Bible. Thus it is possible to find for example heroic stories about the Judge Gideon who successfully repulsed the enemy of Israel (Reader 33, p. 348), about the victorious battle of King Saul against
Philistines (Reader 33, p. 353) and about the famous fight between David and Goliath
(Reader 33, p. 359).
The majority of the stories in the readers refers to heroic acts performed during the
Maccabean rebellion against the Greeks (e.g., Reader 31, p. 55; Reader 34, p. 118, 122;
Reader 36, p. 92; Reader 38, p. 96), during the two rebellions against Rome (e.g., Reader
30, p. 84; Reader 34, p. 217,249; Reader 36, p. 195), during the resistance to Nazi's extermination (e.g., Reader 31, p. 67; Reader 40, p. 143), and of course during the struggle with Arabs. The latter encompasses all the periods of the Israeli-Arab conflict including the prestate violence (Reader 33, p. 114, 154; Reader 32, p. 32), the Independence War (Reader
33, p. 174; Reader 34, p. 350; Reader 37, p. 130; Reader 38, p. 153), Six Day War (e.g.,
Reader 30, p. 87; Reader 36, p. 211; Reader 39, p. 120), and Yom Kippur War (Reader 34, p.
356). One of the stories describes an important symbol of Jewish heroism -- the siege of
Massada which ended with a suicide of the Jewish fighters in order not to fall in the hands of the Romans (Reader 34, p. 249). Finally, in several of the stories the heroes are children or

Societal Beliefs 22 adolescents (e.g., Reader 31, p. 170; Reader 33, p. 336; Reader 38, p. 158). In one of the stories a boy volunteers to light Hanukah candles in order to provoke Arab snipers so that the
Jewish soldiers will be able to locate the shooting Arabs (Reader 39, p. 88).
Also the texts presenting the societal beliefs of Jews' victimization extend the scope of the historical periods. In addition to extensive focus on Holocaust (e.g., Reader 32, p. 56;
Reader 33, p. 161; Reader 34, p. 329; Reader 37, p. 70; Reader 38, p. 107), Greek and
Roman persecutions (e.g., Reader 31, p. 55; Reader 34, p. 114, 116, 217) and Arab attacks
(e.g., Reader 32, p. 38; Reader 37, p. 131), there is also reference to persecutions of Jews during Biblical times such as the episodes of Amalek (Reader 33, p. 348), the Philistines
(Reader 33, p. 353), and the Babylonians during the destruction of the First Temple in 586
BC. (e.g., Reader 32, p. 83; Reader 34, p. 18). There is also at least one story about harsh treatment of the first pioneers by the Turks (e.g., Reader 32, p. 34). Also pertaining to beliefs about victimization of Jews is the fact that several of the readers present a gloomy picture of the Jewish relations with the Gentiles -- relations dominated by the persecution and oppression of Jews (e.g., Reader 32, p. 252, Reader 37, p. 50; Reader 39, p. 34). Two readers prominently quote from the Passover Hagada: "Time and again they have risen against us to destroy us; in every generation they rise up against us and seek our destruction. But the Holy
One, blessed be He, saves us from their hands (Reader 37, p. 120; Reader 38, p. 139).
Another important victimization-related theme presented in the religious readers is the act of
Kiddush Hashem which refers to choosing death rather than violating Jewish religious laws.
In one story, Rabbi Elazar prefers to die under torture rather than to eat pork against the
Jewish law (Reader 33, p. 59). In another story, taking place during the Hellenistic period, about Hannah and her seven sons, the sons prefer to be killed rather than to bow before the statue of a Greek god (Reader 37, p. 50)

Societal Beliefs 23
As in the case of readers used in the secular elementary schools, the religious readers carry few references to Arabs. But on the few occasions they are mentioned, Arabs are presented as the enemy and as a hostile collective whose intention is to hurt Jews and destroy
Israel. The religious readers present negative images of Arabs and about seven (63%) of them even include delegitimizing labels such as "Arab rioters" (Reader 37, p. 132; Reader 33, p.
176), "blood thirsty" (Reader 38, p. 257), "aspiring for blood and robbery" (Reader 34, p.
292), or "wild mob" (Reader 40, p. 130).
Still, several readers include stories which describe positive relations between Jews and Arabs, in the form of friendship or Arabs' help to Jews. Examples are a story about a
Jewish boy who mistakenly crosses the border into Jordanian Jerusalem and is helped by an
Arab boy who hides him and helps him to return home safely (Reader 32, p. 41); a story about an Arab who smuggled a Jewish boy into Palestine (Reader 40, p. 226), or a story about the developing friendship between Israeli and Egyptian boys in an international youth meeting abroad which shows the Egyptian boy ready to relate to the Israeli boy in spite of the fact that Egypt's media and school books only encourage hatred (Reader 34, p. 358)
The readers present an unquestioningly positive image of Jews. Thus, one reader includes a story about an Arab who tried to cheat a Jew but when the latter outsmarts him, the
Arab decided to convert to Judaism (Reader 37, p. 60). The same reader considers Jerusalem the "center of the world" (p. 140) and the Temple as a place "from which peace, love and fraternity spread all over the world" (p. 148.)
Finally, a few of the readers (36%) refer to peace (e.g., Reader 37, p. 135; Reader 38, p. 152) in wishful terms. Only one of the readers describes the peace process with Egypt focusing on the visit of the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Israel in 1977 and the peace negotiations and treaty it brought in its wake (Reader 33, p. 396).
Junior High School Readers (7th - 9th grades)

Societal Beliefs 24
Readers used in the junior high schools differ considerably from those employed in the elementary schools. Their objective is to introduce the students to literary works. The curriculum of the Ministry of Education therefore recommends a list of literary works from which the editors of the readers select their collections. In general, these textbooks include less reference to the six societal beliefs than the elementary readers.
Similar to the elementary school readers, the junior high readers refer relatively more to societal beliefs about security and about victimization (see Table 1). Only two readers refer to unity and three readers relate to peace. Dealing with the societal beliefs about security and victimization, the focus is almost entirely on the victimization and heroism during the Holocaust and in the context of the conflict with the Arabs. Many of the readers include special chapters which deal with these themes. Several readers devote a chapter to stories and poems about the Holocaust (sometimes entitled "Holocaust and Heroism") and another chapter (e.g., entitled "Struggle and Memory") with stories and poems dealing with the Israeli-Arab conflict, (e.g., Readers 45, 46, 49, 50, 51).
The literary pieces included in the junior high school readers tend to have an individual at their center. Thus, in the context of the two societal beliefs about security and victimization, they describe either individual heroic acts (e.g., Reader 42, p. 348; Reader 43, p.392; Reader 44, p. 343) or individual suffering as a result of Jewishness (e.g., Reader 41, p. 70; Reader 42, p. 297; Reader 44, p. 134; Reader 42, p. 383) or both of them (e.g., Reader
48, p. 531). In a number of readers, features another symbol of Israeli heroism: Hana
Senesh. Hana Senesh was an Israeli paratrooper who volunteered to be dropped into Nazi
Europe so as to make contact with Hungarian Jewry. She was caught, tortured and executed by the Gestapo (e.g., Readers 43, 48, 49).
About 57% of the readers contains at least one positive image of the Jews. In the
Israeli-Arab context, Jews are described as brave believers in their cause who are ready to

Societal Beliefs 25 fight for it, even if it means sacrificing their life. They also are presented as moral, humane and intelligent (e.g., Reader 42, p. 230 describes smartness of a Jew).
One story has an interesting self-perception of a Jew in the Warsaw ghetto: "I believe that being a Jew means to be a fighter, a swimmer against the sinister and criminal human stream. The Jew is a hero, tortured and holy ... I am happy that in this miserable life I belong among those people for whom the Torah is an expression of the most superior and beautiful laws and morality" (Reader 48, p. 437).
A major difference with the elementary school readers occurs with regard to the presentation of Arabs. Although there are very few cases of delegitimization, 21% of the readers refer to, for instance, "the devilish enemy" and "its blood thirsty mercenaries" (Reader
47, p. 287) or "savage Bedouin tribes" (Reader 48, p. 531) and Arabs are still often stereotyped negatively (mostly as uneducated people and enemies who initiate the violence), some pieces introduce a completely new image of Arabs, one which was absent from the elementary school readers: these readers include stories written by Arab writers which describe Arabs as humane individuals in their every day life. In this category can be found, for example, a story by Samira Azam (Readers 41, 48) about an Arab living in Acre, a story by Sofy Abdalla (Readers 43, 45) about a debate between a mother and her son regarding a blood feud, and a story by the Egyptian writer, Naguib Mahfouz (Reader 46) about a child.
Of special importance are stories which describe empathetically the suffering of the Arabs in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Examples are a poem by Alterman (Reader 46, p.
98), which deals with an incident during which a Jewish youth destroys an Arab's watermelon plot, or a story by A. Reingold "It is difficult to be a victorious Jew" (Readers 42, 44, 47), describing Arab refugees on the roads during the Six Day War. The latter compassionate description is accompanied by a clarification said by the Jewish figure in this story, "We did

Societal Beliefs 26 not begin the war, we did not hate, we did not expel, we did not do anything wrong to them... believe me it is difficult to be a Jewish victor" (Reader 44, p. 251).
The readers also include a number of stories by Israeli Jewish writers who describe
Arabs humanely and sympathetically. In this category is, for example, a story by Benyamin
Tammuz (Reader 41), who describes a pleasant encounter between an Arab and a Jewish boy; a story by Galila Ron-Feder (Reader 42), about the acclimatization of an Arab girl in a Jewish school; a story by Moshe Smilansky (Reader 43) about the love relations between a Jewish man and an Arab woman; or a story by Itzhak Shemy (Readers 45, 48) about Bedouins.
The only reader which is explicitly recommended for the religious junior high schools refers quite extensively to the societal belief of Jews' victimization. Few of the literary works refer to societal beliefs about security and positive self image. In contrast to secular readers of the junior high schools, the religious reader includes neither a literary text written by an Arab, nor one by a Jew who writes positively about Arabs. There are some indirect references to Arabs as an enemy within the context of the conflict.
History Textbooks
The analysis of history school books differs from that of the above readers as the contents of the later reflect a wide selection of literary pieces about a wide scope of subjects, while the former describe the specific periods they are supposed to teach. Thus, not all the history books refer to Arabs in general or to the Israeli-Arab conflict, since they describe the long history of humankind in general, and the history of the Jewish people, in particular.
Still, it is possible to analyze the emphases of the books, the selected periods of Jewish history, the latent messages and, in our case, the reflection of the societal beliefs functional for successful coping with the intractable conflict. Ten history textbooks in use at secular elementary schools were content analyzed. Table 2 shows that 70% of these books stressed societal beliefs of security and positive self image. Forty percent of the books made some

Societal Beliefs 27 reference to unity and 20% referred to Jews' victimization. In 20% of the books at least one reference was found to a societal belief of delegitimizing Arabs.
Insert Table 2 about here
The history textbooks of the elementary secular schools that we studied fall into two categories. Six books are entirely devoted to the Jewish settlement in Israel in the pre-state period (the end of 19th century until 1948), while the other four books present the ancient history of Jews in Israel, prior to their exile by the Romans. This reflects the Ministry of
Education's differentiation between the subject matter called "the history of the Jewish settlement" and the subject matter called "Jewish ancient history".
The six books covering the pre-state Jewish history in Israel cover similar issues. In general, they describe the life of the Jewish pioneers in Palestine at the end of the 19th century and in the early 20th century. Almost all the books draw a patriotic picture of pioneers who make their living by cultivating desolate land, and who defend themselves against the attacks of Arabs. This is for example, the main theme of the Books 56, 58 which describe the pioneer life until the beginning of the War World I and of other books which describe other periods of Jewish settlement in Palestine (e.g., Books 57, 60). In three textbooks (Books 56, 57, 60) societal beliefs about security have special prominence. One of their main themes is the glorification of Jewish active defense against Arab hostilities.
Almost all the descriptions of the Jewish-Arab conflict cast Jews as the victims of
Arabs' acts of theft, harassment, and murder (e.g., Books 55, 56, 57, 58, 60). The Jews in spite of forming the minority, bravely and successfully defend themselves and contain Arab aggression (e.g., Books 56, 57, 60). The Jews are also portrayed as being moral and fair.
One book refers directly to the "purity of arms" -- an Israeli notion which prescribes high moral standards in battle (Book 57, p. 163).

Societal Beliefs 28
The Arabs are on the whole negatively stereotyped. They are predominantly associated with aggressive behavior on the one hand and with primitivism, on the other hand
(e.g., Books 56, 58). In one book (Book 57) the Arabs are presented as a "rebels" and
"rioting mobs" who attack Jews because of religious agitation (pages 27, 57). In most cases they are described as poor, primitive, passive and farmers. In one passage there is a description of Jews' visit in an Arab village, "In the village they found thin people with yellow faces. Flies walked over their faces, and they did not even try to chase them away"
(Book 58, p. 33). But in the same book there is also a description of how an Arab farmer teaches a Jew to sow (p. 48).
It is interesting that although the textbooks deal with periods during which Arabs were a substantial majority in Palestine, some books hardly mention Arabs at all (e.g., Books
55, 58, 59). Moreover, whereas, almost all the books strongly feature the national aspirations of the Jewish people and impart Zionist ideology, they almost completely disregard the national aspirations of the Arab population in Palestine and do not elaborate on the nature of the conflict between Jews and Arabs. Still, two books discuss attempts to resolve the Jewish-
Arab conflict in a peaceful way prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. On book
(Book 57, p. 22) describes the discontinued meeting between Jordan's King Feisal and Haim
Weizmann, and another book (Book 60, p. 118) refers to meetings between Jews and Arabs aimed to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, which failed because neither side was willing to compromise.
The four books dedicated to early Jewish history include themes relating to beliefs about security, positive self image and importance of unity, as well as about Jews' victimization. As regards security beliefs, the books greatly emphasize the heroic acts of
Jews in wars throughout ancient Jewish Israel. The descriptions begin with the conquest of
Canaan by the twelve tribes, their struggle with other peoples over control of the land, the

Societal Beliefs 29 wars of King Saul, King David and the other kings, the Israelites' rebellions against Greeks and Romans (Books 61, 62, 63, 64). All the books underline the importance of defending the land and the need for determination and courage in this struggle. Three of them also stress the importance of unity in this struggle. The latter theme appears in the context of early struggle against the Philistines and other Canaanite peoples, in the context of wars against
Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome. For example, one book writes: "Division weakened the Israelites and the Egyptians were quick to exploit this opportunity for their advantage" (Book 63, p. 36). And another book points out that Israelite unity under King
Saul enabled the tribes to win the war against the enemies (Book 61, p. 134-135).
The textbooks develop the image of Jewish victimhood from the earliest stages of
Jewish history, starting with the description of the first exile in Babylon (e.g., Books 61, 63) and rising to prominence in the chapters describing the Greek and Roman occupation.
Persecutions of Jews on religious grounds are also stressed (Books 63, 64). The earlier mentioned episode about Hannah and her sons is an example in point. However, in this book the version is somewhat different; it describes her sons' refusal to eat pork and their subsequent torture and death (Book 63, p. 295).
The only history textbook written for the religious elementary school (Book 65) covers early Jewish history from its beginning until the destruction of the second temple. The book clearly emphasizes four of the societal beliefs (see Table 2). Throughout, it discusses the necessity to fight in order to survive and the importance of defending the land. It also describes at length various heroic wars and battles in the course of early Jewish history. It stresses the benefits of unity and the cost of division. On the one hand, the uniqueness of the
Jewish people in comparison to other peoples is underlined in this book, but, on the other hand, it encourages a view of Jews as victims. The former aspect is expressed for example, by portraying the Jews who return from their first exile as viewing themselves as scions of

Societal Beliefs 30 saints who have to keep away from the aliens" (p. 60). The victim image is imparted through descriptions of persecutions of Jews, throughout their ancient history, their exiles, and especially of various limiting decrees on their religious practice during the Greek and Roman occupation. Thus, the book tells about the Greek prohibition to circumcise male babies and to observe Jewish holidays. "Shocking pictures were revealed to the passersby. Soldiers were dragging women with only just circumcised babies to the roofs and were throwing mothers and sons to the ground ... and those who did not obey the order were tortured till death" (p.
162).
Junior High History Textbooks
The history textbooks of the secular junior high schools cover a long period of Jewish and world history beginning with ancient Rome and ending with modern times. Only one book almost entirely discusses the world history (Book 69), while three books are devoted to the history of Zionism and prestate Israel (Books 70, 71, 73); other books combine Jewish history with the general history (Books 66, 67, 68).
In spite of the wide range of periods covered one theme emerges as absolutely dominant in six (75%) of the books that focus on Jewish history -- this is the theme of Jews' victimization (see Table 2). The history books describe the Jews as being constant and continuous victims, wherever they are. Two books begin with the persecutions during the
Roman occupation (Books 66, 67), and move to those occurring in the early period of
Christianity and during the rise of Islam. The focus then shifts to the Middle Ages, which are characterized from a Jewish perspective as almost entirely a period of suffering. Jews suffer religious persecutions, libels, pogroms, expulsions, punitive taxations, forced conversion, torture, and executions. The Church, especially the Inquisition, is seen to spread hatred of the
Jews and conspire against them. With few exceptions (for example the Golden Age in
Spain), a similar picture is described for countries under Muslim rule (Books 66, 67). These

Societal Beliefs 31 two latter books devote a considerable space to the description of Jews' victimization, and the former even has a chapter entitled "The violent hatred of Israel" (Book 66), and the other
(Book 67) concentrates mostly on the description of general history from the 15th to the 19th century, while only a few chapters are devoted to Jewish history. Although in these chapters the theme of victimization appears, they also describe the process of Jewish emancipation, integration and equalization of rights, especially in the 19th century.
Other books continue to present the victimization of Jews in modern times, especially in prestate Israel. One book analyzes modern anti-Semitism as a basis for the evolvement of the Zionist movement (Book 70), one book describes the genocide of the Jews during War
World II (Book 72), and two books present the victimization of the Jewish settlement in
Palestine during the prestate period by the Turks, the British and especially by the Arabs
(Books 71, 73).
The latter two books present a very negative picture of the Arabs. Arabs are presented as continuously plotting against Jews, from the very beginning of Jews' return to
Palestine. They are shown to object to Jewish immigration, bother Jewish pioneers, murder them, and carry out pogroms. In these two books they are sometimes labeled with delegitimizing categories such as "rioting gangs" (Book 71, p. 127), "murderers without distinction" (Book 71, p. 131) or "Arab mob" (Book 73, p. 136), or "violent animals" (Book
73, p. 137).
The books do present the Palestinian national aspirations, albeit as an uncompromising and extreme position. The Arab leaders reject any compromise and peaceful resolution of the conflict. The books describe the Arab people as being forced and agitated by extreme leadership which leads them to violence, e.g.: "In order to stoke the fire of the rebellion and prevent compromises they used internal terror. An Arab who was known as a moderate was killed" (Book 71, p. 127). Another book presents a proclamation of the

Societal Beliefs 32
Jewish underground which states "We know that the Arab public at large does not want to breach security, but probably there is an increase in influence of agitators who opened attacks" (Book 73, p. 113-114).
In contrast to Arabs, Jews in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict are presented in very positive light. They are described as hard-working, peaceful, and moral people who are forced to defend themselves which they do with courage and determination. One book summarizes this view explicitly: "They [the Arabs] are extremists and we are moderates:
They murder indiscriminately and we defend ourselves. They violate laws and we obey laws" (Book 71, p. 131). The other book writes "In all the actions an effort was made not to kill any people" (Book 73, p. 62) and "... the Arabs started... spontaneous attacks on the
Jewish settlement. It was a primitive and unorganized attempt to trample the Jewish settlement ... the Haganah Jewish underground, in contrast, In spite of ongoing persecutions they did not give up in face of their cruel fate (Books 66, 67, 68) and continued to adhere to the Jewish religion.
The four history textbooks for the religious junior high school cover different historical periods. One is devoted entirely to the history of Jews in the Ottoman Empire during the 17th-19th century and the other three cover longer periods of predominantly
Jewish history. In three (75%) textbooks (Books 75, 7
, 77), four of the six investigated societal beli************************************************************************
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Societal Beliefs 33
*****************************************************************In spite of ongoing persecutions they did not give up in face of their cruel fate (Books 66, 67, 68) and continued to adhere to the Jewish religion.
The four history textbooks for the religious junior high school cover different historical periods. One is devoted entirely to the history of Jews in the Ottoman Empire during the 17th-19th century and the other three cover longer periods of predominantly
Jewish history. In three (75%) textbooks (Books 75, 76, 77), four of the six investigated societal beliefs receive a very prominent place (societal beliefs of security, positive self image, victimization and unity, see Table 2). All four textbooks present an unequivocally and strong image of the Jewish people as victims of hatred and persecutions because of their adherence Jewish religion. The whole of Jewish history is presented as one long persecution of the Jews who stand alone against all the other nations. The presentations of the Jewish history in Book 75 from the destruction of the First Temple until the Bar-Kochva rebellion, in
Book 76 from early Christianity until the 17th century pogroms in the Ukraine and in Book
77 from the late Roman period until the Jews' expulsion from Spain in 1492, carry many descriptions of anti-Jewish attitudes and behaviors by different rulers in different countries, and especially those of the Church. The books particularly emphasize harsh religious edicts which limited or forbade religious practices and forced conversion. One book describes the victimization of Jews in Islamic countries between the 15th and 19th centuries where Jews a lower legal status, had to pay special taxations, were forced to work in low status professions, and were sometimes even killed in pogroms (Book 74).
Three books (Books 75, 76, 77) focus on a special kind of heroism: Kiddush Hashem
-- the readiness to suffer and ultimately to die in order not to violate Jewish religious laws.
The books describe Kiddush Hashem during the Greek period: "They chose to die in the hands of the torturers and not to violate the Torah's commands. They were the first who

Societal Beliefs 34 sanctified the Holy Name by their death and they set the example for the holy martyrs throughout the generations to die a pure death rather than to desecrate the heavens and live a life of villains" (Book 75, p. 73), and it continues through all the periods of the described
Jewish history. Similarly, the other book writes "Without delay and preparation the members of the Jewish community stood before a choice to convert to Christianity or to die. Part of them converted to Christianity under compulsion, but the majority of them withstood in the temptation and were killed for Kiddush Hashem by the rioters" (Book 77, p. 404) or "Fathers killed their children, grooms killed their brides and all died in purity with on their lips the prayer, Shma Israel (Book 76, p. 142). In addition, the two books which cover the ancient history of Jews (Books 75, 77) extend the presentation of heroism to the descriptions of the brave struggle against Greek and Roman occupation. They include the history of the
Maccabean rebellion against the Greeks, the first rebellion against the Romans which ended with the destruction of the Second Temple and the Bar Kochva rebellion during the rule of the Roman Emperor Hadrianus.
The above analysis regarding the presentation of the Jewish victimization and heroism indicates that the books offer a very positive image of Jews. This is also the case in three
(75%) history textbooks for the religious junior high schools. The Jews are presented as suffering heroes. But, in addition to this description, the Jews are also presented as the
"chosen people": For example, "the more they pondered the writings of the Torah and the
Prophets, the more they understood that this special way of life was designated for the People of Israel by God" (Book 75, p. 14). These books create a unique image of Jews who are seen to differ from all the other nations. This is an ethnocentric image which portrays Jews as superior in their faith and morality.
Also prominent in the history books for the religious junior high schools is the emphasis on unity (see Table 2). The books comment on the importance of unity and the

Societal Beliefs 35 costs of division in relation to different events throughout Jewish history. Following are some examples: "Very gradually the tribes united, because they fought difficult wars against the inhabitants of the country and their neighbors, and the tribes helped each other as brothers of one nation and one faith" (Book 75, p. 7); "Those who fought the internecine war were ashamed in their deeds. Because of them the freedom of Judea came to its end and they brought shame on the entire nation. Because Israel did not confront the Roman conquerors as one nation but divided into factions which can be easily overcome by every conqueror"
(Book 75, p. 102); "In spite of the fact that Jewish people were dispersed across distant countries, they did not cease to see themselves as members of one nation" (Book 76, p. 8);
"The Jewish communities did their best ... to help the Marranos to keep contact with the religion of their ancestors [this] was seen by them as their holy duty" (Book 77, p. 452).
Also, three books refer to Arabs. One describes the rocky relations between Jews and
Arabs during the 17th-19th century in the Ottoman Empire (Book 74). The other two books describe earlier periods of the rise of Islam and its dominance during the Middle Ages (Books
76, 77). Although the books acknowledge periods of Arab tolerance and describe the Golden
Age in Spain, Arabs are also described in a negative light.
High School History Textbooks
Twelve of the fourteen history textbooks for the secular high school concentrate on the last two centuries. Of the remaining two books, one focuses on Jewish history during the period of the Second Temple (Book 78) and one describes the Jewish history in the Middle
Ages (Book 79). Among the former twelve books, two deal solely with general history
(Books 90, 91), four deal only with Jewish history (Books 84, 85, 86, 87) and six combine
Jewish and general history. The following results of the analysis regarding the investigated societal beliefs, as appear in Table 2, are based on books, or chapters, which deal with
Jewish history.

Societal Beliefs 36
Our analysis shows, as in the other history books, the theme of Jews' victimization predominates, with much of the material dedicated to Jewish suffering as a result of persecutions. This characterizes the ancient history of the Second Temple, when the Jews returned from their first exile, of the Greek conquest of the country, and the Romans occupation (Book 78). It is the main and almost only theme in the Jewish history of the
Middle Ages (Book 79) and it continues to dominate the history of the last centuries when the hatred of Jews, now termed anti-Semitism, spread among the nations of the world (Books 80,
81, 82, 84, 89). The climax of anti-Semitism is the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered (Book 86 in its entirety; and chapters in Books 81, 83, 88)). This trend of viewing the history of Jews as one dominated by their victimization applies also to the presentation of the history of the Jews before and after the foundation of Israel (Books 83, 85,
88, 89).
Thus, for instance, Book 78 summarizes the persecutions following the Bar-Kochva rebellion "those persecutions all had one objective -- to convert the Jews from their religion and thus to eliminate their unique culture" (p. 345). Book 79, analyzing anti-Semitism during the Middle Ages, suggest that Islam and Christianity first tried to convert the Jews to their religion. Once these efforts failed an existential problem for the Jews was created since there was no place for nonbelievers in the community of believers -- "There were those who wanted to perceive Jews as stubborn refusers and there were those who perceived them as captives of wicked forces, that act beyond the perceptible world. For all those it was easy to exclude Jews from the framework of the state through forced religious conversion, through expulsion and through killings" (p.2). The books dealing with the modern era describe the new form of hatred of and prejudice against Jews which originated in anti-Semitism (Books
81, 82, 89). According to Book 81: "So the hatred of Israel was dressed in the 19th century principally in nationalistic and racist slogans, which were to prove that Jews were not entitled

Societal Beliefs 37 to be full participants in the life of the hosting nation ... 'Research' publications and scientific
'theories' were used increasingly and the term itself of anti-Semitism which was used for the hatred of Israel suggests the seemingly scientific nature of the propaganda of Israel's enemies in the new era" (p. 72). All the books that deal with modern Jewish history describe the
Dreyfus trial at length as a symbol of the intense anti-Semitism of the European nations
(Books 81, 82, 89).
The study of the Holocaust receives special attention. A whole book (Book 86) is devoted to it, and other books dedicate special chapters to this genocide. They all describe its roots and elaborate the details of the persecutions of the Jews and their eventual extermination.
Another salient theme in Jewish history books pertains to security beliefs. This is reflected in numerous descriptions of the heroism of Jews in their struggle to defend themselves and the land during both their ancient (Book 78) and new (Books 81, 83, 85, 88,
89) history. Here the Jews are always presented as a minority up against an enemy who enjoys quantitative superiority. These descriptions can be added to the overall attempt to present the Jews in both ancient and modern Israel as active people who fight to defend themselves, oppose occupation, and take destiny into their own hands. This is also how the long history of the Jews' struggle with the Arabs is presented, beginning with the first settlement of Jews in Palestine at the end of the 19th century, through the Tel Hai siege, the violence of 1921, 1929, 1936-1939, the Independence War until the Six-Day and Yom
Kippur Wars. Those books that deal with the establishment of the State of Israel tell about the successful defense against Arab attacks which with British help aimed to stop Jewish immigration and prevent the realization of the Zionist objectives and about Arabs' failure to destroy the state of Israel (Books 82, 83, 85, 88). The Israeli Defense Forces play crucial role in the successful defense of the state, once it is established: "The Israeli Defense Forces

Societal Beliefs 38 stand on their guard as a military force which has the power to deter Israel's enemies" (Book
81, p. 271).
Much like the other school books, and in contrast to the positive image of the Jews, the history textbooks of the secular high schools stereotype the Arabs negatively in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Arabs are presented as intransigent in their opposition to the Jews and in their refusal to accept a reasonable compromise to end the conflict. They attack Jews, organize strikes, carry out pogroms and riots in which agitated crowds participate. They refuse to recognize the newly established State of Israel and continue to perform hostile acts against it (Books 81, 83, 85, 88, 89). One book claims that the Arab hostility in the 30s and 40s was fed by the anti-Jewish propaganda spread by the Nazis and
Italian Fascists (Book 83). But only three books (21%) have at least one reference that delegitimizes Arabs. Book 89 presents a more complex view of Arabs. The authors write that the Jews' daily encounter with Arabs changed their stereotypes. "The image of 'savage' and 'lazy' Arabs who do not do anything in the line of their tradition was changed by other labels such as 'tall guys' on whom it is possible to look with 'pride and confidence'. An ambivalent perception towards Arabs' traits and character was formed" (p. 361). But of special interest is the book's citation of a passage written by Ahad Ha'am (one of Zionism's founding fathers), who, following a visit in Palestine in 1891 criticized the pioneers: "they live with the Arabs in an atmosphere of hostility and cruelty, they unjustly and unreasonably disgrace them, and ... that those are right who say that the Arabs only respect heroism and bravery" (p. 363).
A book, "The Zionist Idea and the Establishment of the State of Israel" (Book 85) is of special significance. It analyzes the Israeli-Arab conflict and attempts also to offer the
Arab perspective. The book devotes ten pages to the description of the Arab national movement, a description which is based on Jewish sources. Thus it presents the rise of this

Societal Beliefs 39 movement as the reaction to the emergence of Zionism, that is, "The fear of penetration and consolidation of the Zionist factor in the land of Israel" (p. 86, vol. 2). The book in general presents a negative picture of Arabs, as enemies who try to stop the realization of the Zionist ideology by violent means.
Finally, few of the books stress the importance of unity. In the description of the history of the Second Temple, Book 78 cites numerous instances of divisions, schisms and disagreements among the Jews which had tremendous costs and adversely affected the course of events. As examples can be cited division during the Hasmonean Kingdom (p. 157), during Roman rule (p. 280), or during the rebellion against Rome (p. 294). In contrast, Book
79 elaborates about continuous attempts to maintain unity during the Middle Ages, in spite of polemics and societal polarization, under the banner "The whole of Israel carries responsibility one for the other" (p. 90, 147, 173).
Three history books for the religious high schools were content analyzed. One book describes the history of the Second Temple (Book 92), one book describes the Holocaust
(Book 93), and one book is dedicated to the modern history of Jews in the Muslim countries
(Book 94). In the first two books, the four societal beliefs about Jews' victimization, security, positive self image and unity receive a dominant place, while in the third only the societal beliefs about victimization of Jews and unity receive extensive coverage (see Table 2). The three books detail numerous cases involving the victimization of Jews. Obviously, this is the main theme of the book about the Holocaust which offers a perspective both on the past
("historical persecutions throughout the ages mark the hatred of Israel within the German people, and it becomes clear that the relationship between emancipation and anti-Semitism is causal and essential", Book 93, p. 7) and on the future ("thus we are enjoined to blow the trumpet every year about the danger which always lies in waiting, and to revive the memory of Amalek in every generation: Remember and do not forget", p. 19). Book 92 describes the

Societal Beliefs 40 period of the Second Temple as characterized by the almost continuous hatred and persecution of Jews, who are perceived as "lepers" (pp. 91, 95, 96, 113, 115, 118, 119, 210,
212, 214, 223, 225, 226, 228, 230, 232, 295, 301, 305, 307, 310, 342-344, 352, 361-378, 361,
364, 366-370, 379-380, 382-383, 385-387, 397-398) . Book 94 elaborates on numerous cases of the victimization of Jews, including special taxation, special limitations, religious persecution, humiliations, expulsions and even pogroms, during last three centuries in
Muslim countries like Yemen, Morocco, Iran, Algeria, Libya or Iraq (pp. 11-25, 55, 59, 64,
74, 77, 78-79, 83, 87, 108, 113, 115, 116, 140, 145).
Two books present the heroic act of Jews (Books 92, 93) describing the Jewish resistance to the Nazis in the ghettos and concentration camps, and in the forests by partisans
(a whole chapter is devoted to this later topic). It also describes Jews' heroic coping with the unbearable conditions of life under the Nazi occupation of the European countries. Book 92 provides a long list of acts of heroism during the history of the Second Temple (pp. 223, 225-
229, 231, 278-268, 272-274, 291, 293-295, 303, 31-312, 345, 366, 379, 383, 387-396, 399-
400). This book also refers often to the issue of unity and division (Book 92, p. 74, 75, 76,
77, 84,94, 119, 223, 272, 291, 293, 348, 349, 381, 383, 385, 388, 389, 391, 393, 394, 396).
Finally, Book 92 supports the view that the Jews are unique people: "It is the one and only nation among all nations which has kept its identity and uniqueness from ancient times until this day", (p. 61); the Israelites' exodus from Egypt "is a singular and special event in history"
(p. 66); the Jewish people stand against the forces of history, "none of the other nations succeeded to do" (p. 223); " ... the nation preserved uniqueness and its world mission, and even nourished and strengthened them to an extent unparalleled by in other nations" (p. 301).
Geography School Textbooks

Societal Beliefs 41
The analysis of geography school textbooks included only those books which deal either with Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) or with the Middle East, since mainly these books carry references to the investigated societal beliefs.
Elementary Schools Geography Textbooks
Ten books recommended for use in the elementary schools were analyzed. Seven of them describe different geographical regions of Israel, one focuses on the relations between
Jews and Arabs and two books describe the geography of the Middle East. The books differ greatly in their reference to the six societal beliefs. As Table 3 shows, in none of the books do these beliefs feature in a major way.
Insert Table 3 about here
Two of the books, while dealing with geography also describe historic events in the ancient past and concerning the Israeli-Arab violent conflict (Books 96, 97). They refer to heroic acts of Jews and emphasize territorial factors in ensuring the security of the land. For example, Book 97 quotes a historical source to the effect that "the residents of the Galilee were brave and did not know fear" (p. 72) and elsewhere it describes how Jews repulsed Arab attackers: "With great heroism they repulsed the attackers whose numbers far exceeded the defenders -- women, too, participated in the battle" (Book 96, p. 30). These two books present the Jews both as victims and as heroes: from the beginning of their history Jews suffered as their country was overrun by powerful enemies and in modern times Arabs initiated hostile acts. Both books stereotype Arabs negatively. They are portrayed as primitive, dirty, agitated, aggressive, and hostile to Jews (Book 96, pp. 86, 91, Book 95, pp.
86, 102, 110, 114). They lack the knowledge and means to cultivate the land and therefore they sell it to Jews (Book 96, p. 66). In a description of an Arab village, twenty-five years before the establishment of Israel, Book 95 writes "Gloomy residents walk about the village,

Societal Beliefs 42 in poverty and silent horror ... Children suffering from eye disease and with swollen stomachs wander through the garbage ..." (p. 114).
Jews are presented as bringing progress and modernity to Arabs. They help the Arabs to develop the villages in Galilee after the 1948-49 war, bring water, and electricity, introduce modern agriculture and develop an educational system (Book 95, p. 115-6).
Similarly Book 92 describes Israel's help in the Gaza Strip following its conquest in the Six
Day War: Jews helped to develop agriculture and improved public service. This line is also taken by Book 97 (pp. 150-153) in describing the geography of the Gaza Strip. Five other books in describing regions of Israel, make few references to societal beliefs of security or victimization in the context of either ancient historic events or the Israeli-Arab conflict: their focus is mostly on geographical description (Books 97, 98, 99, 100, 104). Three of these five books refer to peace. Book 98 (pp. 107), for example, writes about the likely economical benefits of peace. Thus, if there is peace, it will be possible to develop cooperation in different domains including the joint efficient use of water resources. In this, the pupils are asked, by way of an exercise, to write an essay on "A dream for peace".
One book approaches geography by exploring Jewish-Arab relations in contemporary
Israel (Book 103). In its introduction the author states that the book's aim is "to offer you the students an opportunity to learn about other people and to get to know them more intimately through common meetings and trips. These chapters are integrated with lectures on geography in which you learn about different regions in Israel ... We believe and hope that the learning, acquaintance, and meetings between you and the other [i.e., Arab] students will eventually contribute to the understanding and mutual respect between Jews and Arabs living in Israel" (p. 4). This is an exceptional book which also describes the life of Arabs in Israel, and Jewish-Arab relations also from the Arab perspective. The author expresses a view that

Societal Beliefs 43 the resolution of the conflict can be achieved through continuous and complex negotiations
(p. 7).
Two of the ten books describe Arab states -- one book focuses on the countries of the
Mediterranean (Book 101), while the other concentrates solely on the Middle East (Book
102). The former book refers to Egypt and the Maghreb countries, omitting Syria and
Lebanon, while the latter describes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. The first book (Book 101) provides only geographical descriptions and suggests that the peace with Egypt is the beginning of a long process which eventually may bring peace to the area.
Book 102 provides a critical geographical analysis of each of the Arab states in the Middle
East. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria are described as primitive and underdeveloped countries and Saudi Arabia is described as riddled by corruption. The book concludes with a hope that in the future Israel's contact with the Arab countries will be marked by "peace, tourism, medical help, agricultural assistance, cooperation in many domains" (p. 171).
Junior High Schools Geography Textbooks
Five geography textbooks for the junior high schools were analyzed (see Table 3).
One book (Book 105) describes the general geography of Israel and the other four focus on specific regions of the country. Book 105 relates demography to security considerations as regards the planning of settlements and population distribution in Israel. Three books
(Books 106, 107, 108) have a number of references to societal beliefs of security, victimization of Jews and positive image of Jews. These references occur in the context of, either ancient history or the modern history of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The first two books refer rather extensively to the history of the described regions.
Arabs in these books are presented as a backward people who benefit from Jewish progressiveness (see for example Book 107, pp. 125, 128). Book 106 devotes several pages
(pp. 131-132, 134, 140, 143, 146) to a description of how Arabs in the West Bank benefited

Societal Beliefs 44 as a result of Israeli rule. The author writes: "the relations with Israel did not a little toward raising the standard of living in Judea and Samaria. The transportation system, the supply of electricity and water, the educational and health systems were largely improved (pp. 131-
132).
High Schools Geography Textbooks
Five books recommended for the high schools were found to be relevant for the present study and therefore content analyzed. Among them two books contain a collection of scientific articles (Books 119, 111). Two books deal with the geography of the Middle East
(Books 111, 113) and the other three with the geography of Israel. With the exception of one book (Book 111), all the books refer to security beliefs and in two of them security is a repeated theme (Books 113, 114). This theme is frequently related to themes about a positive self image and victimization and sometimes to negative stereotyping of Arabs.
The articles in Book 111 analyze different social and economic aspects of Middle
East's geography. One article describes positive experiences of an Israeli academic who lived in Cairo, to illustrate the fruits of the peace between Israel and Egypt. Other articles are more specialized and concern specific issues in the geography of the Middle East in general or a particular country, more specifically.
Book 110 contains eight articles on demographic geography. One of these discusses the successful settling of Bedouins in permanent residences and two discuss the Jewish settlement of the Galilee. The latter two articles present conflictual relations with Arabs and discuss the threats of their presence in the Galilee: According to the articles, Jewish settlement of the Galilee is necessary in order to prevent the Arabs from becoming a majority in the region, to change the demographic balance of Galilee in favor of the Jews, and to ensure Jewish territorial continuity. Specifically, one article argues "In addition to the immediate need to prevent illegal taking of the lands there was also the will to create a

Societal Beliefs 45 dynamics of arrangements and land acquisition, and in the long term to achieve a desired spreading of Jewish presence in Galilee to prevent territorial continuity of the Arab sector"
(p. 111). The same objectives of Jewish settlement are presented in another article of the same book(p. 130).
Book 114 about the geography of Israel contains numerous references to historical events describing battles, rebellions, and wars through ancient and modern history of Israel, and especially acts of heroism (see pages 50, 51, 54, 57, 58, 68, 74, 112, 114-116, 118, 151,
155, 170, 183, 189, 198, 203, 205, 210, 211, 217, 218, 219, 223, 224, 234). Also the book often refers to security conditions and security needs as part of the geographical analysis (see p. 37, 173, 188, 210, 220) and the authors also often refer to the victimization of Jews throughout history, including the years of exile (see pages 116, 118, 119, 121, 122, 123, 124,
126, 127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 134, 135, 152, 153, 154, 170, 172, 196, 197, 208, 218). In reference to events related to the Israel-Arab conflict, Arabs are presented unequivocally negatively and Jews unequivocally positively. Arabs are referred for example as "agitated
Arab mob" (p. 131) as "Arab mercenary gangs" (p. 190). The book also describes the progress and assistance that Jews brought to the occupied territories after the 1967 war (pp.
143, 206, 212-216).
Book 112 refers infrequently to historical events while discussing geographical issues.
The book presents Israel as including the East Bank of the Jordan River and the Sinai
Peninsula and states that "the territories between Egypt and River Euphrates constitute the promised land, whose boundaries are mentioned in the Bible" (p. 23). This book also refers to security concerns and suggests that they were of importance in the planning of settlements
(pp. 172, 176, 192, 200, 293). The book portrays Arabs negatively and emphasizes the contribution of Israel to the development of the Arabs. For example: "The Israeli military government does all it can to guard the security in the [Gaza] Strip and tries to make contact

Societal Beliefs 46 in order to have peaceful relations and cooperation between the Arab and Jewish population.
The government offers employment to the residents and provides loans to the municipalities for their economic progress".
Finally, Book 113 analyzes the Middle East countries - Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon and Iraq -- also from the perspective of their relations with Israel, and it discusses the hostile attitudes and behaviors of Iran, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq towards the State of Israel. It also dedicates its final two pages the to implication of geographical processes in the Arab countries -- scarcity of water, urbanization, and developments in transportation and communication -- for Israel. The book suggests that peace, if achieved, will benefit Israel and its neighbors through new cooperation. But conflict continuation, in contrast, may lead to violence.
Civic Studies Textbooks
Elementary Schools Civic Studies Textbooks
Only two books of relevance to the present study are used in the subject matter called
"Homeland and society studies" by elementary schools. One book describes the life of the
Bedouins in Israel (Book 116) and the other one presents the Arab citizens of Israel (Book
115). The books do not concern societal beliefs functional for coping with intractable conflict (see Table 4). The former book presents to the Jewish pupils the customs and traditions of the Bedouins in Israel. It describes the changes that the Bedouin society is going through with the help of Israel, particularly the urbanization process. The latter book describes Arab society and focuses on Arab-Jewish relations in Israel. It tries explicitly to impart the values of equality and pluralism and to advance the coexistence between the two groups living in the State of Israel. The book also tries to diminish Jewish children's

Societal Beliefs 47 prejudice against Arab people and to promote encounters between pupils of both populations.
Insert Table 4 about here.
Junior High Schools Civic Studies Textbooks
Four civic studies textbooks for the junior high school were analyzed. The first book, designated for secular schools (Book 117), is almost identical to the book designated for the religious schools (Book 118). Both books describe the basic concepts of the state and of citizenship, as well as the political system of Israel. They contain one chapter devoted to the
Defense Ministry and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which in essence compares the quantitatively inferior military power of Israel with the armies of the Arab states and presents a speech by Itzhak Rabin in 1967 following the Six Day War when he served as Chief of
Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, and in which a reference is made to societal beliefs of security and positive self image. Specifically, it describes the importance of the army in the victory of the Six Day War, Israeli heroism during the war, and the superior quality of the
Israeli soldiers, especially their moral strength. Books 119 and 120, designated for the secular and religious junior high schools, also focus on the presentation of basic civic concepts and describe the political structure and processes in Israel. Book 119 devotes eleven pages to a chapter about the Ministry of Defense and the IDF. These pages present the
IDF as being smaller in quantity than the combined Arab forces, describe the importance of the security problem for Israel, and present stories about the relations between Diaspora and
Israeli Jews during the Yom Kippur War: Mostly these are stories about Jewish volunteers from abroad who feel attached to the Jewish state. These stories express the societal beliefs of unity. At the end of the chapter the book states "There are many differences among Jews: differences of language, life style, opinions and views. The distances between Jewish communities are large and there are states which do not permit Jews to leave them or have

Societal Beliefs 48 contact with Jews elsewhere in the world. Nevertheless, the majority of Jews feel that they belong to one people. When Jews suffer, they are helped by Jews both from the same place and from other places. As it is said "The Jewish people are responsible for each other" (p.
94).
The recent book (Book 120) has only few references to societal beliefs of security and victimization. It does not discuss the problematic relations between the Jewish majority and
Arab minority in Israel.
High Schools Civic Studies Textbooks
Four books in high school civic studies were found to be of relevance to the purpose of the present study and therefore they were content analyzed. The first book, dealing with labor relations in Israel (Book 121), only makes a reference to one investigated societal belief
-- the victimization of Jews (p. 284).
Book 122 presents Arab society in Israel to Jewish students. This book describes the life of Arabs in Israel and their relations with the Jewish majority, and it is one of the few books, and maybe even the only one, which mentions and discusses Arab discrimination in
Israel. This book aims to provide updated information about Arabs and to change their negative stereotype in Israel in order to advance positive coexistence between the two groups.
Of special significance to the present study is the analysis of the only book and its supplement which is entirely devoted to the presentation of the Israeli-Arab conflict (Books
123, 124). These two books contain mostly original material (speeches, documents, articles) without commentaries. They are the first school books which also include a score of original texts in an effort to present the Arab perspective on the conflict. The first book contains two parts: one part devoted to the conflict in the prestate period consists of three chapters
(Balfour Declaration, Zionist conflict with the Arabs, and attempts and proposals to find a peaceful solution), and the other devoted to the conflict after the establishment of the State of

Societal Beliefs 49
Israel, consisting of five chapters (factors in the conflict, stages in the conflict, Palestinians, relations among Arabs states and the problem of Israel, and the superpowers and the conflict).
The first part of the book has significantly more Jewish than Arab material, in terms of both the length and the elaborateness of the texts. For example, Chapter 2, Part 1, contains six
Jewish speeches and articles covering 26 pages, and only four Arab documents covering in sum seven pages; or again, Chapter 3, Part 1 has six Jewish proposals on 16 pages, and three
Arab proposals amounting to five pages. In general, the Arab side is presented as relatively homogenous in its irreconcilability and intransigence. According to the book, Arabs refused to compromise their position by sharing the land with Jews and rejected the Zionist idea and its implementation. Also, the book argues that despite some Jewish-Arab negotiations and some positive Jewish-Arab relations, the Arab community in general revealed a hostile attitude and behavior toward the Jewish settlement. In contrast, the materials sample a wide spectrum of opinions that were prevalent in the prestate Jewish community and emphasize the Jewish willingness to compromise and to recognize Arab claim on the contested land.
A similar line is taken in the second part of the book which deals with the interstate conflict between Israel and the Arab states. The book provides material that justifies the
Sinai War and the Six Day War and presents the noncompromising positions of the Arab leaders in contrast to Israeli willingness for peace. This part also presents the heterogeneity of the Israeli opinions with regard to the solution of the Israeli-Arab conflict. It moreover deals with the Israeli-Egyptian peace process, presenting the Israeli-Egyptian disengagement agreement of 1975 and the speeches of President Sadat, Prime Minister Begin and opposition leader Peres in the Knesset during Sadat's visit in Jerusalem in 1977.
The supplementary book published in 1989 (Book 124) contains four articles written by Israeli Jews (dealing with intra-Arab relations, the Palestinian national movement, the
Arab population in the occupied territories, and Israel's security policy) and six documents

Societal Beliefs 50
(the Camp David agreement, the decisions of the Arab summit meeting in Algiers, 1988, decisions of the Palestinian Council in 1988, two Intifada proclamations, and a peace propoconflicts. However, while observable political and economic conditions have changed, the question must be posed whether complementary changes have taken place in the educational system which is responsible for the socialization of the new generation of citizens in this troubled region. The present study investigated whether the textbooks used in Israeli schools during the peace process continue to transmit societal beliefs which reflect an ethos of conflict with the Arab people. Specifically the expressi********************************************************************
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******************************** From the 50's, 60's and 70's, when the conflict was intractable, to the 80's and 90's, when the conflict began to show signs of ameliorating, significant changes have taken place in Israeli-Arab relations. Israel in the mid-90s maintains differential relations with Arab countries, which range from full peace (i.e. Egypt and Jordan) to complete hostility (e.g., Iraq). Different types of relations were established with various
Arab countries and a negotiation became a primary way to deal with the specific conflicts.
However, while observable political and economic conditions have changed, the question

Societal Beliefs 51 must be posed whether complementary changes have taken place in the educational system which is responsible for the socialization of the new generation of citizens in this troubled region. The present study investigated whether the textbooks used in Israeli schools during the peace process continue to transmit societal beliefs which reflect an ethos of conflict with the Arab people. Specifically the expression of the following six societal beliefs were investigated in the textbooks for Hebrew, history, geography, and civic studies: societal beliefs of security, of positive self image, of Jews' victimization, of Arabs' delegitimization, of unity and of peace. These societal beliefs were suggested to be functional for coping with intractable conflict (Bar-Tal, 1996)
The content analysis of these textbooks does not reveal a unified picture. Books differ in their emphasis on the investigated six societal beliefs. While some refer to most of the societal beliefs functional for coping with intractable conflict, some place less emphasis on them. While others only mention them infrequently, still others do not refer to them at all.
In addition, differences among subject matters were observed.
In general, the analysis shows that societal beliefs of security received most emphasis.
In the readers of the elementary schools, in all history books, high school geography and civic studies at least fifty percent of the books have more than an occasional reference to these beliefs and in at least 25% of them they are a dominant theme. Societal beliefs about security in the examined textbooks pertain mostly to the glorification of heroic acts through ancient and modern Jewish history. In most cases Jews are presented as a minority fighting larger and stronger enemies. This symbolism of "David fighting Goliath" appears in the history of the tribes conquering the land of Israel, of the destruction of the First Temple, of the struggle against Greek and Roman empires, of Jews' brave coping in the face of persecutions during the two thousand years of exile, of the resistance to Nazi genocide, and of their fighting the
Arabs in the Middle East conflict. The stuggle against the Arabs receives special emphasis

Societal Beliefs 52 in the Hebrew readers and the textbooks of history and geography. They all describe how the
Jews bravely sustain continuous Arab attacks before and after the establishment of the State of Israel. The books also pay special tribute to the various military organizations whose objective was to ensure security during the prestate period, and to the Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF) after Israel came into existence.
The observed emphasis on security in the school textbooks is not surprising in view of the conflict which raised the problem of security to the top of Israel's agenda. Security has come to be a central concern of Israeli Jews who believed -- and many still go on believing that there is a real threat to the existence of the State of Israel and to the safety of its Jewish citizens. Security is still an important master symbol in the Israeli Jewish ethos and the majority of the Israelis view the achievement of security as a primary societal goal (Arian,
1995; Bar-Tal, 1991; Horowitz, 1984; Lissak, 1984; Stone 1982; Yaniv, 1993).
The next most prominent are the societal beliefs of positive self image and Jews' victimization, which appear with similar frequency. In the elementary schools' readers, about
30% of the books carry at least some reference to these two beliefs. In the history books used in junior high schools and high schools societal beliefs about Jews' victimization have a very distinctive place and in many of the books it is the most dominant theme of Jewish history.
Also beliefs about positive self image are relatively frequently presented in history textbooks.
Two civic studies books for the high schools (which concern the Israeli-Arab conflict) are dominated by societal beliefs of positive self image and Jews' victimization. These two societal beliefs are embedded in the Jewish tradition ( Bar-Tal & Antebi, 1992; Hareven,
1983; Liebman & Don Yehiya, 1983; Smooha, 1987): The ethnocentric view according to which the Jews are a "chosen people" and the "siege mentality" perspective whereby the world is perceived to be generally against the Jews, have been transmitted through many centuries. The intractable conflict with the Arabs reinforced these beliefs. The textbooks

Societal Beliefs 53 present Jews as heroic, progressive and moral people who fight just wars as humanely as possible against an Arab enemy who refuses to recognize the Jewish entity in Israel and initiates vicious attacks on the Jews and their state. Jews are presented as the bringers of progress, development and benefit to the Arab people in the prestate period and after Israeli independence, and to the Palestinians in the occupied territories following the 1967 war.
Societal beliefs of unity appear infrequently in the readers of elementary and junior high schools and somewhat more often frequently in the history books. The references either concern Jewish unity and point to its importance for national survival or describe the negative consequences of disagreement, internecine strife and schism. The societal beliefs of peace are presented rarely, with infrequent appearances in the readers and very rare ones in other books. In the literary texts selected for the readers, peace is referred to as a wish, hope or dream. The history books briefly mention various variance attempts, during the prestate period, to resolve the conflict peacefully and only very few books note the 1979 peace agreement with Egypt.
Of special interest are societal beliefs of delegitimizing Arabs since they involve labels which deny humanity by extremely negative categorization (see Bar-Tal, 1989). The analysis shows that there is very infrequent delegitmization of Arabs (one or two references), in about 30% of the elementary school readers, in about 20% of the junior high school readers, in about 20% of the secular history books, in a few geography books and one civic study book. It should be noted that these findings only refer to direct delegitimization of
Arabs and not to their negative stereotyping. The great majority of the books sterotype Arabs negtively wherever they are referred to. Positive stereotyping is an exception. This presentation is in line with the prevalent view of the Arabs as the enemy during the long years of the conflict: throughout these years the Arabs objected to Zionist goals and violently opposed them (Bar-Tal, 1988, 1990). For a number of decades Arabs waged a total war on

Societal Beliefs 54 the Jewish state, including an economic embargo and a political boycott. It is thus not surprising that their negative stereotypes penetrate all the cultural and educational products of the Jewish-Israeli society, including school textbooks (Bar-Tal & Zoltack, 1989; Ben Ezer,
1968; Bitan, 1991; Cohen, 1985; Herzl, 1987; Oryan, 1991) and that they still prevail among
Israeli Jews (e.g., Bar-Tal, in press).
The analysis shows a difference between the books used in secular and religious schools. Books used by religious schools emphasize societal beliefs of security, positive self image, Jews' victimization and unity considerably more frequently; this difference is especially noteable as regards history textbooks. The religious educational system is explicitly ideological. Its formal credo is based on a combination of religious and Zionist values (Kleinberger, 1969; Schwarzwald, 1990). Of special importance for the religious public educational system is its focus on Jewish identity, which it identifies with a religious identity and has its roots in Jewish history and tradition (Schiff, 1977). The Jews are viewed as a "chosen people" -- a view which perpetuates ethnocentric self perception. The religious educational system also assumes and stresses a continuity between an ancient Jewish history and the present history of Israel. It presents the Jews in a positive light and glorifies various heroic acts. The ethnocentric tendency of this education system also results in a negative perception of other nations in general, and of the contemporary Arab nations in particular.
Religious education also foregrounds the negative treatment of Jews throughout history as a direct consequence of their unique religious identity. Jews are viewed as victims of longstanding hatred, rejection and persecution by the Gentiles who continuously and constantly have tried to erase their religious existence. All these characteristics of religious education are reflected in the textbooks which are specially written for this system.
An evaluation of the present study requires a longitudinal perspective. Although it is very difficult to compare the findings of the textbook analyses done by Bar-Gal (1993),

Societal Beliefs 55
Bezalel (1989), and Firer (1985) with those of the present study because of conceptual and methodological diversity, it is possible to detect differences between the textbooks used at the apex of the Israeli-Arab conflict in the fifties and sixties, and those used in the study year
1994-95. First of all, the above studies already found changes over time in emphases and contents, especially during the seventies and eighties. The books of the seventies and eighties, compared to those used in the fifties and sixties, reflected more didactic and scientific considerations and less national and Zionist goals. But, in spite of these changes the present study still finds substantial traces of the conflictual ethos. They still saliently appear in the elementary readers and the history, geography and civic studies books which present the modern Jewish history in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict. In this context, the societal beliefs of security, positive self-image, Jews' victimization, and negative stereotyping of Arabs are integrated. This results in self-righteous, ethnocentric, simplistic, and black-and-white presentations of the Israeli-Arab relations, in most of the school textbooks.
Some of the books used in 1994-95 continue to reflect the intractable conflict which climaxed in the period between the late forties and early seventies. They are not adapted to the reality of the peace process which shapes the new relations between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. Some of them still do not reflect the changes which took place in the seventies and eighties -- the peace agreement with Egypt and the de facto peace with Jordan:
Instead of unitary, hostile, and threatening relations with all the Arab states, differential relations were developed which changed the nature of the conflict. This trend is especially salient in books written in the seventies and eighties, which are still used presently.
Especially detrimental to peace efforts are beliefs about the absolute justness of some or
Israel's own far-reaching goals and those involving the delegitimization or even negative and homogeneous stereotyping of the Arabs. The former disregard Arab claims to land and

Societal Beliefs 56 national identity and prevent a possibile compromise. The latter perpetuate the negative and general perception of Arabs as a violent and backward enemy. This perception feeds the feeling of threat and insecurity. Both categories of beliefs constitute as obstacles to the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
It should be posited that not all the societal beliefs functional for successful coping with the intractable conflict are dysfunctional during peaceful intergroup relations. Beliefs about positive self-image, unity, patriotism, peace and security serve essential functions for a society also in times of peace. Nevertheless, some content of the discussed societal beliefs will have to be changed in order for Israeli society to adapt to the new era. Specifically, in order to socialize the next generations to life in a reality of tractable conflict with source of the Arab national (rather than an intractable one with all of them), the Israeli society, for example, will have to gain access to a differentiated, complex, multidimensional and more empathetical image of the Arab people. This new image will also have to be integrated with the way Israeli society looks back on the intractable conflict of the past. There is moreover a need to present a more critical and complex view of the own group, the Jews, in the conflict.
It is also important to teach about peace in terms of its benefits and of concrete steps of conflict resolution.
The analysis of the school textbooks showed that only few books attempted to transmit completely new societal beliefs which are functional for the coexistence and peace process with Arabs. Few readers, few geography and civic studies books established a new educational agenda. Their objectives are to promote Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel, reduce the intensity of prejudice, provide balanced knowledge about Arabs and present them as partners to mutual understanding.
In order to put the present findings in a proper perspective, one remark should be made. In spite of the fact that the Israeli Arab conflict lost some of the its intractable

Societal Beliefs 57 characteristics when the peace agreement with Egypt was signed in 1979, the peace process accelerated only since the Gulf War in 1991 which was followed by the Madrid convention in the same year. The political agreements signed in the years 1992-1994 were dramatic and further changed the Middle East and Israeli-Arab relations. We may assume that the political climate has been changing too rapidly for the society's ethos, fueled by the reality of intractable conflict through many decades, to keep pace with it. The school books cannot as yet be expected to reflect these very recent political developments. The development of new curricula and the subsequent publication of new textbooks can take years and in the meantime old textbooks which do not reflect the new reality are used in the schools.
The present study should be seen as descriptive in its nature. The results describe the contents regarding conflict ideology transmitted to the young generation of Israelis. They reflect the educational reality which we must consider when we try to tackle the question whether the transmitted contents of societal beliefs correspond to the new political reality formed in the Middle East.
Israeli society has been in transition for the last 20 years, slowly changing from its engagement in intractable conflict to involvements in conflicts of a less all-encompassing nature. The political and economic events of the last years have already established a new
Middle East. But there is need to cement this newly emerging reality with new societal beliefs which reflect and support the peace process. Change of societal beliefs is a long process. Years of ideological socialization cannot easily be undone, and members of the society face the complex task of constructing and maintaining a new social reality. Clearly in such a process, societal, cultural, political institutions and channels of communication take an active part. Of special importance is the educational system with all its mechanisms. School textbooks play an important role in shaping the beliefs prevalent in a society. In view of the emerging new reality in the Middle East, these books should present students with updated

Societal Beliefs 58 information concerning both the past and present, and they should be characterized by openness and complexity. The development of a new ethos of peace is a major objective for all the societies involved in the peace process in the Middle East.

Societal Beliefs 59
Notes
1 Societal beliefs about justness of own goals and societal beliefs about patriotism were omitted from the present study. The former beliefs were omitted because they constitute overwhelmingly the major theme in almost all the books, and with several books being devoted entirely to this theme. The latter beliefs, as presented in the school books, overlapped to a large extent with the beliefs we classified in the category of security beleifs, positive self image and unity.
2 It should be noted that the approved books were publised in different years through the last two decades.
3 The study analyzed about 95% of the approved books and a few additional books which were published by the Ministry of Education and approved after publiction of the officially approved list. We have no formal data about extent of use of each book since schools are free to select their books from the approved list on the basis of the Ministry's curriculum. However, an informal inquiry of the three largest text supplies in Tel Aviv and of general inspectors of each investigatrew).
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Societal Beliefs 64
1 Societal beliefs about justness of own goals and societal beliefs about patriotism were omitted from the present study. The former beliefs were omitted because they constitute overwhelmingly the major theme in almost all the books, and with several books being devoted entirely to this theme. The latter beliefs, as presented in the school books, overlapped to a large extent with the beliefs we classified in the category of security beleifs, positive self image and unity.
2 It should be noted that the approved books were publised in different years through the last two decades.
3 The study analyzed about 95% of the approved books and a few additional books which were published by the Ministry of Education and approved after publiction of the officially approved list. We have no formal data about extent of use of each book since schools are free to select their books from the approved list on the basis of the Ministry's curriculum. However, an informal inquiry of the three largest text supplies in Tel Aviv and of general inspectors of each investigated subject matter provided a list of popular books. All these books were analyzed. Only a few books with a very limited distribution were unobtainable and therefore could not be analyzed.
4 For convenience, the reference to the school textbooks will be made according to their number in the list appearing in Appendix A.