The best metaphor I know for the experience of observing political and security opinion in Israel is a long, extended roller-coaster ride. The ride goes along smoothly enough and then, quite without warning, the car takes a headlong plunge into the unknown, a dive which may be experienced as either terrifying or exhilarating, depending on one's point of view. Unlike an amusement park ride, however, this form of entertainment seems endless, with no finale leading to a smooth and soothing finish. In the past there has been one important regularity: that after an initial surge of change, things settle down and revert to familiar patterns with altered expectations for the next plummet. But there is no assurance that the jaunt will not spin out of control, and that after the next plunge the conductor (government) will not be able to assert authority as in the past, and will no longer take proud responsibility for the last surprise, or be in a position to exhort the public to prepare itself for future nasty turns.

The security debate in Israel surges and ebbs, twists and turns, pulsates and relaxes. These spasms often occur during and immediately after traumatic security or political events: a terrorist attack, a concession in peace talks, a war, a diplomatic breakthrough, a confrontation between Jewish settlers and the IDF. During these intense periods of articulation, the public absorbs the disputation and begins processing the content of the disputation.