"The Recruited Identity": The Influence of the Intifada on the Perception of the Peace Process From the Standpoint of the Individual

Abstract As a rule, people have related to the external (political or security) difficulties impeding the peace process since the signing of the Oslo agreement. At the basis of this approach lies the assumption that when these difficulties are solved, the psychological difficulties of the individual that may delay the actualization of this most beautiful vision—a real peace between us and our Arab neighbors—will disappear by themselves. Therefore, there is no real need to relate to them at this stage. In this article, we try to undermine this basic assumption. By using narrative analysis of an interview with a student—an officer who spent most of his regular army service in suppression of the Intifada—we try to demonstrate the discourse through which the young Israeli confronts the question of his identity in connection to relations with the Palestinians. The officer (we call him Adi) was chosen because the interview with him exemplifies many of the issues that came up also in other interviews with young Israelis who were involved in the Intifada. The interview demonstrates both the positive qualities as well as the major problems that we found in the other interviews. Throughout the entire interview, we encounter Adi's attempts to maintain his interpretative system even when it no longer matches the reality within which he is acting. (Behavioral Sciences)