Analyzing Israel’s Ontological Security: The Impact of the October 7th Hamas Attack on Israel’s Core Identities

As Jennifer Mitzen underscores in her study titled “Ontological Security in World Politics: State Identity and the Security Dilemma”, in addition to physical security, states also seek ontological security. Ontological security refers to the need for individuals to feel secure in their identities, as deep uncertainties can threaten this sense of identity security. Whether cooperative or conflictual, ontological security, as Mitzen underscores, plays a crucial role in understanding the stability of social relationships. This study aims to analyze Israel’s ontological security within the framework of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, focusing on the impact of Hamas’s brutal terror attack on October 7th on Israel’s three core identities: Jewishness, Democracy and the role of a Security Provider.