Trust and the attribution of rationality: inverted roles amongst Palestinian Arabs and Jews in Israel

Jewish Israelis tend to regard Palestinian Arabs, including those who are citizens of the state of Israel, as threatening and malicious. Nevertheless, personal interactions between Jews and Arabs in commerce, industry, government and in relations between professionals and clients often involve explicit and implicit ad hoc or minimal trust. Two cases from Natzerat Illit, a predominantly Jewish development town established by the Israeli government in 1957 next to the old Arab town of Nazareth in Galilee, are reviewed. One is of an Arab doctor treating Jewish patients, the other is of an Arab coach in charge of an exclusively Jewish basketball team. The ability of Jewish actors to invest trust in an Arab is shown to hinge on their attribution to him of solid, self-seeking rationality. The analysis of this case-material, combined with recent sociological and anthropological writing on the link between rationality and risk-taking, offers further insight into the nature of trust. -Author