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Synopsis

"Israel, State of Siege", a portrait of Israeli society two days before elections and two weeks after its massive military offensive in Gaza. Israeli society feels threatened and has taken to the trenches, launching devastating attacks on its Palestinian neighbors with a high toll of civilian deaths. Why?

A 30 Minuts team visits the kibbutzim--Israeli collective farms--located near the Gaza Strip. For the past 8 years they have been under attack by the Palestinian militia, making it difficult for them to imagine coming to peace with their neighbors across the border.

But that response is not unique to Israelis living in the south of the country. More than 90% of Israeli Jews supported the Gaza offensive. In Tel Aviv, the country's most modern and cosmopolitan city, many young people admit to feeling increasingly threatened. According to some Israeli anti-war political analysts, this reaction has been stirred up by politicians and the media, which give little voice to independent thinkers.

One exception is the weekly political satire TV program "Eretz Nehederet" ("A Wonderful Country") that takes Israeli politicians to task through its sharp humor, but that during the Gaza offensive, also made jokes about the number of Palestinian victims, victims who today, are no longer willing to even try and understand Israeli society.