When Accusations Become Proof |
The Psychology of Accusation: Projective Identification and the War Over Israel
Socrates warned that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Modern politics, however, often thrives on unexamined narratives. Few contemporary issues illustrate this more clearly than the discourse surrounding Israel. The persistence and emotional force of many accusations against it cannot be explained by history or ideology alone. A psychological mechanism—visible in conflicts far beyond the Middle East—helps explain why certain accusations not only endure but continually reproduce themselves.
Projection is a commonly understood psychological defense first described by Freud. It occurs when one “projects” an impulse, feeling or (unconscious) desire of which they are generally unaware onto another. Common examples include an insecure spouse struggling with their own temptations or doubts accusing their partner of infidelity, or an angry person accusing others of hostility.
A more complex and less widely understood dynamic is that of “projective identification,” in which the accuser places the other in a position (unconsciously) designed to elicit responses that confirm preexisting expectations. Any response is filtered through the accuser’s expectations.
Therapists see this, for example, when a person convinced that others are hostile interacts in ways that elicit irritation or distance. That reaction is then experienced as proof that the original accusation was justified. The expectation helps produce the confirmation.
The accusation comes first. Then circumstances are created that make the accusation appear true.
Projective Identification on the Global Stage
Erich Fromm, who left Nazi Germany in 1934, a year after Hitler took power, argued in Escape from Freedom (1941) that societies under severe stress often displace anxiety and forbidden impulses onto external targets. In such conditions, psychological defenses like projection and scapegoating can become politically mobilized, allowing aggression to be expressed under the guise of victimhood. Fromm saw Hitler’s interpretation of Germany’s post–World War I humiliation as a paradigmatic case: national resentment and insecurity were redirected toward Jews, who were portrayed as the source of Germany’s suffering and therefore as deserving of persecution.
This illustrates how projective identification operates on a political scale. Jews were cast not simply as........