[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Memory, Crisis and Boundary Hardening: Historical Persecution Narratives and Attitudes Towards Arab Citizens of Israel

Yuval Feinstein, Gal Ariely, Daphna Canetti, 2026, Nations and Nationalism — Political Science

Patterns: [Distinctions](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/distinctions), [Relationships](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/relationships)

## In short

The finding shows that strengthening endorsement of a persecution-centered historical narrative is associated with a hardening of the symbolic boundary distinguishing an in-group from a minority out-group, and that this relationship is patterned by underlying group-identity configurations.

## What they found (results)

Within-person increases in agreement with the historical-persecution narrative were associated with stronger exclusionary attitudes toward Arab citizens of Israel across two separate crisis periods, with the strength of this co-movement varying across different national-belief clusters within the Jewish public.

## What they set out to do (purpose)

To examine how endorsement of a historical-persecution narrative relates to exclusionary attitudes toward a minority group during national security crises.

## Abstract

How is endorsement of a historical-persecution narrative related to minority exclusion during crises? This article argues that historical persecution narratives are durable cultural resources whose political implications are neither uniform nor constant. Using longitudinal surveys of Jewish Israelis, it compares the May 2021 Gaza war and intercommunal violence with the war following the 7 October 2023 attack, when Arab citizens were not involved in internal violence. Within-person increases in agreement with the historical-persecution statement were associated with stronger exclusionary attitudes towards Arab citizens, including after 7 October. Heterogeneity analyses show that this within-person co-movement was not uniform across the Jewish public: It was detectable in different national-belief clusters across the two crisis intervals. The article contributes to research on nationalism and collective memory by showing that crisis periods can coincide with upward shifts in endorsement of a persecution-centred historical narrative and boundary hardening towards internal minorities, patterned by national-belief configurations.

These researchers were not testing DSRP. The finding is theirs; the correspondence to DSRP is drawn by this site.

[Source](https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.70117)