Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Vol 32(2), May 2026, 163-174; doi:10.1037/pac0000821
This research explores the effectiveness of peace education to build reconciliation-related attitudes among Palestinian citizens of Israel across 3 years of changing conflict intensity. Assuming the complexity of the term reconciliation and ethical considerations of targeting minority groups, this research (N = 565) checks how the affection of peace education may differ in accordance with social-political climate. Findings showed a slight overall, borderline statistically significant increase in reconciliation willingness postprogram. It is important to mention that a starkly different pattern emerged depending on the context. In a year of relative calm (2022), a significant improvement occurred, supporting the hypothesis that peace education is most effective in fostering reconciliation in stable environments. Conversely, in periods of large-scale violence (2021 and 2023–2024), willingness to reconcile did not increase. The fact that there was not seen an absence of a decrease in reconciliation attitudes during 2021 suggests the program may have served a resilience-building function, protecting existing attitudes from the expected negative impact of the conflict. We conclude that it is important to adapt peace education according to changes in social-political environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)