Daniel Bar-Tal, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, before and after October 7, 2023: In conversation with James Liu and Veronica Hopner

The Israel-Palestinian conflict is one of the most well-known and polarizing issues that has impacts on societies, and institutions beyond Israel, and Palestine. This interview with prominent social scientist Daniel Bar-Tal, Professor Emeritus, School of Education, Tel Aviv University, focused on the situation in Israel and Palestine following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza. Interviews such as this are an academic inquiry drawing on the expert analysis of a scholar-activist, grounded in research and theory. As such an analysis, Bar-Tal explains the causes of this war, its context, its process, the contribution of each side to its escalation, and its effects on the possibilities of peaceful conflict resolution between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. He describes the current situation as governed by considerations of realpolitik, contestations over what defines antisemitism, and whether Israeli conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide or ethnic cleansing. This interview enables the application of Bar-Tal's systematic and holistic Theory of Intractable Conflict to the current crisis to interrogate how ethos of conflict, collective memory, and collective emotional orientation dynamically interconnect to form a culture of conflict. But also, how these elements can also be addressed for solutions to enable peaceful resolutions.