CHANGING PERCEPTION OF ISRAEL

This study examines the changing perception of Israel among politicians, artists, and the public following the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas in 2023. As a result of the hostilities, the Israeli state bombed schools, hospitals, and refugee camps in Palestine without regard for humanitarian considerations, leading to the tragic deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinians, with the killing still ongoing. Those who survived have been left facing hunger and extreme hardship. This situation has forced many Palestinians to flee, and some of the areas they left have been taken over by Israeli settlers. The international media has widely reported on these events through photographs and documents, which has begun to shift global public opinion on Israel. In particular, the Israeli government’s actions in Palestine—its use of violence in violation of international law, the threats to Palestinian human security, displacement, land and property losses, and struggles for identity and independence—have become increasingly visible, especially among the populations of Western countries that have historically supported Israel. The wave of criticism from political leaders, artists, and prominent figures in society, along with widespread protests in many countries, has led to Israel being associated with concepts such as ethnic cleansing, genocide, mass psychosis, settler colonialism, and Zionism. A key indicator of this shift is the International Criminal Court’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. These developments demonstrate a transformation in the political perception of Israel, influenced by cognitive, emotional, and ideological factors. In this study, data were obtained from primary and secondary sources, and a qualitative research method was employed.