Measuring national resilience: Israel in the first week of the Gaza war

Abstract

The current study examines Israel's national resilience during the first week of the war with Gaza, as perceived by the Hebrew-speaking population. We examined the psychological variables (indicators of coping) and demographic characteristics as predictors of the mean national resilience score as well as four national resilience (NR) factors separately. Validated quantitative tools were used to collect the data from a sample of adult Israelis (n = 2002) through an internet panel. Path analyses were used to identify the variables that are associated with national resilience. The results indicate a difference between the variables found to relate to the mean composite NR index and that of each of the four factors as tested separately. The best variable that was found to relate to the composite NR as well as factor 1 (patriotism) and factor 3 (solidarity) means was hope: the higher the hope, the higher the composite NR, patriotism and solidarity reported. In contrast, the best associated with Factor 2 (trust in the government) was the degree of supporting the government, while the best associated of factor 4 (trust in state institutions was the level of religiosity. Community resilience was the second-best predictor of all factors and the composite NR score. The demographic variables of age and family income were positively associated, while religiosity and education were negatively associated with the composite NR average score. However, the demographic characteristics together explained only a small percentage of the NR average and each of its four factors. At the same time, the five coping and government support together explained more than 40 % of the composite NR mean. Practitioners and policymakers should thus invest efforts during crises to build public trust and enhance solidarity and patriotism, thereby sustaining national resilience that is vital for coping with adversities.