Psychological Bases of Extreme Policy Preferences: How the Personal Beliefs of Israeli-Jews Predict Their Support for Population Transfer in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This study examined the extent to which Israeli-Jews' beliefs about ingroup vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness are linked to extreme policy preferences in the context of the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In a phone survey of a representative sample (N = 504), stronger beliefs in all domains except for helplessness predicted greater support for the morally problematic transfer of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to neighboring Arab countries compared to alternative policies highlighting territorial compromise. This set of beliefs remained important even after taking into consideration the respondents' political orientation and degree of religiosity.