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Israeli Textbooks Under Scrutiny

Akiva Eldar reports that the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs has tried to prevent publication of the results of a study on Israeli textbooks.
A Palestinian ninth grade student writes on the blackboard during a Hebrew class at a Gaza school in Gaza City January 28, 2013. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GAZA - Tags: EDUCATION) - RTR3D31S
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Israeli public diplomacy is about to lose one of its trump cards — the argument that "Palestinian" textbooks are fraught with incitement and delegitimize the other side. This card is always played after the "there-is-no-Palestinian-partner" joker. A new US-government-funded study undermines this argument, to great uproar in Israel. The study reveals that though Israeli textbooks don't contain explicit incitement, they are guilty of marginalizing the other side. It may be that the Palestinian side has more incitement towards hatred, but when it comes to the Israeli side, incitement sometimes comes in the form of erasing "the other." In other words, "We're the only ones here, and the other side has no history, geography or political existence."

Al-Monitor has learned that upon receiving a copy of the study, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, headed by Moshe Ya'alon, went to great lengths to prevent its publication, scheduled for this coming Monday, Feb. 4.

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