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Last update - 05:19 29/01/2008 Study: Israelis feel less secure since end of Second Lebanon War By Lily Galili, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: public confidence, Israel  "What if we have no nuclear weapons, and the reactor in Dimona is nothing more than a textile factory?" This question came from a participant in a focus group in the Sharon area examining changes in the public's sense of personal security after the Second Lebanon War. For Dr. Udi Label, lecturer on political psychology at Sapir and Ariel colleges who put that focus group together as part of his research on the subject, the man's question is an example of public distrust of the establishment. Since the war ended a year and a half ago, Label argues, the public has lost a considerable amount of the confidence it used to have in its leadership. This rift developed because of the war and appears as a critical component in other focus groups that researchers from all over Israel have convened and studied. Advertisement The conclusions from Label's research and from studies conducted by Label's colleagues fly in the face of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's statements that the public's sense of personal security has only increased over the past year. The conclusions also do not sit well with the fact that Israel's northern border is quiet, and that the number of terror attacks has dropped over that period. Sociologists attribute such discrepancy to the fact that one's sense of personal security is largely subjective. The data on terrorist attacks and the number of guests checking in to bed and breakfasts in the North may be objective facts, but they have limited effect on the general sentiment. Furthermore, some of the sociologists say that a sense of personal security is inextricably linked to the degree of confidence the public has in its leaders. "In all the post-war studies, we have found a strong link between post-traumatic symptoms and the level of confidence in the local authorities," says Prof. Muli Lahad from Tel Hai Academic College. "Of course, this applies to the national leadership as well," he adds. Lahad, director of the Mashabim Community Stress Prevention Center at Tel Hai, says the center is still treating people who suffer from stress-related problems from the war. "Not everyone we treat had come under rocket fire during the war," he adds. When the center's experts began working with the people who came in for treatment, Lahad says, the experts came to realize that they were dealing with people "who were experiencing a deep feeling of loneliness and abandonment." The same people said they believed the next war would not be any different, Lahad notes. "They told us they were sure that no one will come to their rescue in the next round of hostilities either," Lahad recalls. One of the sorest points about the performance of the Israel Defense Forces, the government and the local councils during the Second Lebanon War was the lack of provision for the civilian population that came under constant fire from Hezbollah Katyushas. Many people in Kiryat Shmona and Metula had to make do with leaking and filthy shelters without proper water supply or ventilation. Food supply was also problematic. Lahad says that in the past, participants in his focus groups said they gauged the level of their personal security in how safe they felt when boarding a bus. After the war, the respondents tended to link their sense of personal security with the degree to which they felt their leaders were trustworthy. Dr. Yagil Levi of Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, who studies the relationship between the army and the public, stresses that this feeling of insecurity does not extend to a collective feeling of threat. His research has led him to believe that "even where there are concerns about Katyushas or Qassams, there remains a high level of confidence that the Zionist project in Israel is secure," Levi says. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Pride of Shas Shas MK: Gays are causing Israeli society to self-destruct. In bad taste Local Jewish group protests 'Holocaust float' at Rio Carnival.   1.   Zoinist Project 06:56  |  pal 29/01/08   2.   Israel...the land of the Jewish People 07:49  |  real vision 29/01/08   3.   Israelis feel less secure since end of Summer Lebanon war 09:36  |  Millicent 29/01/08   4.   Israelis - drugged by their own propaganda 10:09  |  Clickfool 29/01/08   5.   And so they should......... 11:45  |  Deborah 29/01/08   6.   #4 boris the clicking fool and more drivel ! 13:51  |  v hardman 29/01/08   7.   Clickfool&Deborah,there is a fine piece by Jeff Halper,`Power to 13:59  |  lakshmi 29/01/08   8.   Of Course Israelis would feel less secure.... 16:13  |  Dolly 29/01/08   9.   no security even with Netanyahu 07:42  |  Perkins 30/01/08

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