Relation-Building and Contained Radicalization in the Gaza Pullout Campaign (Elements in Contentious Politics)

By: Eitan Y. Alimi

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Synopsis: This Element explores the Jewish Settlement Movement's campaign against the Gaza Pullout as a case of contained radicalization. Despite the presence of militant worldviews and propensities for aggression, as factors identified in the literature as drivers of political violence, the campaign saw little violence. The Element offers a detailed analysis of the history of relation-building within the movement and between it and the Israeli State and its agents to explain the ability of leaders from the various contending parties to contain radicalization. It traces the emergence and evolution of central relational mechanisms operating within and between the contending parties over time and during past campaigns. By demonstrating the effects of these mechanisms during the campaign against the Gaza Pullout, the Element shows how the mutually reinforcing relational dynamics mitigated the salience of aggressive propensities and violence-prone ideologies, consequently putting a brake on radicalization.