The Latitude of Acceptance

Abstract

This article answers two related questions: did the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin bring about significant changes in the attitudes of Israeli Jews toward antigovernment protest, and were there systematic group differences in these attitudes before and after Rabin's assassination? The empirical findings of four public opinion surveys point to a significant decline in overall support for antigovernment protest immediately after the assassination, apparently reflecting the shock effect of the murder. The decline was noticeable across the entire spectrum of political and sociodemographic segments of the public, and the plateau attained shortly after the assassination remained almost intact afterwards. Findings also indicate significant group differences in attitudes toward political protest, especially before the assassination. The changes in attitudes were systematically related to two hypothesized influences: guilt by association and socioeconomic status.