This study evaluates the degree to which economic evaluations help to explain attitudes toward peace among Palestinians and Israelis in the years following the 1993 Oslo accords. It first applies insights from political science and economics to the Israeli-Palestinian context, deriving hypotheses that are then tested using survey data from Israel and Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) collected between 1996 and 2001. Findings show that economic orientations have both a direct and indirect impact on attitudes toward negotiations and compromise. On one hand, economic evaluations are directly related to foreign policy attitudes through what appear to be cost-benefit calculations regarding the expected economic consequences of peace. Economic judgments also influence attitudes toward peace indirectly by contributing to levels of confidence in political leaders, which in turn influence the way that citizens assess the peace negotiations in which their leaders are engaged.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Al-Haj, M. , E. Katz, and S. Shye. 1993. Arab and Jewish attitudes: Toward a Palestinian state. Journal of Conflict Resolution37 (4): 619-632.
Anderson, C. J. , and C. A. Guillory. 1997. Political institutions and satisfaction with democracy: A cross-national analysis of consensus and majoritarian systems. American Political Science Review91 (1): 66-81.
5.
Center for Palestine Research and Studies (CPRS) . 2000a. Results of poll #48. Nablus, Palestine: Center for Palestine Research and Studies.
6.
Center for Palestine Research and Studies (CPRS) . 2000b. Results of poll #47. Nablus, Palestine: Center for Palestine Research and Studies.
7.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 2000. The world factbook 2000 [Online]. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. Available: http://navigation.helper.realnames.com/framer/1/112/default.asp?realname=CIA+ World+Factbook&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eodci%2Egov%2Fcia%2Fpublications%2 Ffactbook%2Findex%2Ehtml&frameid=1&providerid=112&uid=30004244
8.
Chanley, V. A.1999. U.S. public views of international involvement from 1964 to 1993: Time-series analyses of general and militant internationalism. Journal of Conflict Resolution43 (1): 23-44.
9.
Clarke, H. D. , N. Dutt, and A. Kornberg. 1993. The political economy of attitudes toward policy and society in Western and European democracies. Journal of Politics55:998-1021.
10.
Cuzán, A. G. , and C. M. Bundrick. 1997. Presidential popularity in Central America: Parallels with the United States. Political Research Quarterly50 (4): 833-849.
11.
Dowty, A.2000. The Jewish state a century later. Berkeley: University of California Press.
12.
Eisenstadt, S. N.1967. Israeli society. New York: Basic Books.
Frieden, J. A. , and D. A. Lake. 1991. International political economy: Perspectives on global power and wealth. 2d ed.New York: St. Martin's.
15.
Gabel, M. , and G. D. Whitten. 1997. Economic conditions, economic perceptions, and public support for European integration. Political Behavior19 (1): 81-96.
16.
Gilpin, R.1987. The political economy of international relations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
17.
Grose, P.1995. A changing Israel. New York: Vintage.
18.
International Labour Office (ILO) . 2000. Yearbook of labour statistics. Geneva: International Labour Office.
19.
Khashan, H.2000. Policy focus: Arab attitudes toward Israel and peace. Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
20.
Kinder, D. R. , and D. R. Kiewiet. 1979. Economic discontent and political behavior: The role of personal grievances and collective economic judgements in congressional voting. American Journal of Political Science23:495-526.
21.
Knopf, J. W.1998. How rational is “the rational public”? Evidence from U.S. public opinion on military spending. Journal of Conflict Resolution42 (5): 544-571.
22.
Kornberg, A. , and H. Clarke. 1992. Citizens and community: Political support in a representative democracy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
23.
Lewis-Beck, M. S.1988. Economics and elections: The major Western democracies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
24.
Lockerbie, B.1993. Economic dissatisfaction and political alienation in Western Europe. European Journal of Political Research23:281-293.
25.
Mishal, S. , R. D. Kuperman, and D. Boaz. 2001. Investment in peace: The politics of economic cooperation between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. Brighton, UK: Sussex Academic Press.
26.
Pacek, A. , and B. Radcliff. 1995. The political economy of competitive elections in the developing world. American Journal of Political Science39 (3): 745-759.
27.
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). 2000a. Poverty in Palestine [Online]. Updated March 2, 2000. Available: http://www.pcbs.org/english/househol/poverty.htm
28.
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). 2000b. Labour force-current main indicators: Basic changes in the labour force indicators in Palestinian Territory during 1995-2000 [Online]. Available: http://www.pcbs.org/english/labor/lab_curr.htm
29.
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). 2001. Press report on labour force survey results: October-December, 2000 [Online]. Available: http://www.pcbs.org/english/press_4/prs_la19.htm
30.
Rejwan, N.1967. The two Israels: A study in Europocentrism. Judaism16 (winter): 97-108.
31.
Shamir, J. , and K. Shikaki. Forthcoming. Between conflict and reconciliation: Determinants of reconciliation and compromise among Israelis and Palestinians. Journal of Peace Research.
32.
Smooha, S.1978. Israel: Pluralism and conflict. Berkeley: University of California Press.
33.
Smooha, S.1998. The implications of the transition to peace for Israeli society. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science555:26-35.
34.
State of Israel. 1999. State of the economy: 1999-2000 [Online]. Tel Aviv: Israeli Ministry of Finance, International Division. Available: http://www.mof.gov.il/beinle/performance/beinle.htm
35.
Tessler, Mark . 1994. A history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
36.
Tessler, Mark . 1995. Israel at peace with the Arab world. Occasional paper, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi.
37.
Tessler, Mark , and Jodi Nachtwey. 1998. Islam and attitudes toward international conflict: Evidence from survey research in five Middle Eastern Countries. Journal of Conflict Resolution42 (5): 619-636.
38.
Tessler, Mark , Jodi Nachtwey, and Audra Grant. 1999. Further tests of the women and peace hypothesis: Evidence from cross-national survey. International Studies Quarterly43:519-531.
39.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) . 1999. Report on UNCTAD's assistance to the Palestinian people. Geneva: United Nations.
40.
Weatherford, M. S.1992. Political economy and political legitimacy: The link between economic policy and political trust. In Economic decline and political change: Canada, Great Britain, the United States, edited by Harold D. Clarke, Marianne C. Stewart, and Gary Zuk. Pittsburg: Pittsburgh University Press.
41.
Weyland, K.1998. Peasants or bankers in Venezuela? Presidential popularity and economic reform approval, 1989-1993. Political Research Quarterly51 (2): 341-362.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
