The Coronavirus pandemic could worsen inter-group relations in Israel – Or provide an opportunity for positive change

In Israel as elsewhere, the spread of Covid-19 poses significant challenges – health, economic, and social. The virus itself does not distinguish between people based on ethnic origin, religion, or skin color. Its effect on society, however, is felt unequally. Moreover, the public response to the crisis and accompanying restrictions raise many questions about its potential impact on relations between different groups, notably Jewish/Arab and secular/Haredi.

A recently conducted series of studies by aChord: Social Psychology for Social Change and the PICR research lab at the Hebrew University examined perceptions and feelings currently dominant in Israeli society both vis-a-vis the epidemic and toward various social groups in the context of the Coronavirus crisis. The findings presented here reflect the results of three research projects, led by Prof. Eran Halperin, Eli Adler, Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, Siwar Hasan-Aslih and Daan Vandermeulen, focusing on non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish society, ultra-Orthodox society, and Arab society. The research mapped levels of perceived threat among each group and examined the relationship between feeling threatened and levels of intergroup hostility.