Lions and Bunnies
I have written quite a bit about how the psychology of the left works, how the approaches of the right and the left differ, and how this causes conflict—not only in Israel, but more broadly.
In today’s situation, I would highlight two main points:
(1) Conflict Strategy
During an emotional exchange on Facebook, one of my colleagues used a colorful metaphor to express her view that, unlike the right, those on the left are usually kind, soft-hearted people:
The left are "bunnies," but the right — are not.
By “bunnies,” she meant to describe people who are gentle, empathetic, peace-loving, and conflict-averse.
In other words, right-wingers tend to be more aggressive, more inclined to use force, and more likely to view strength as admirable by default, and weakness as contemptible.
Even in terms of metaphors, for the left, being a “bunny” is a compliment, whereas for the right, it’s more of an insult. The imagery they associate with themselves includes predatory animals—most often lions in Israel, due to local historical tradition (Lion of Judah).
This metaphor helps explain what seemed like a shocking incident in June 2024, in Caesarea, when leftists tore down and trampled on portraits of fallen soldiers and replaced them with images of hostages.
To them, the "lions" are alien heroes — associated with violence and cruelty. Their heroes are the "bunnies" — the victims. In fact, the cult of the victim is a core part of leftist ideology.
Accordingly, the strategies for handling conflict — and the values themselves — are completely different for "bunnies" and "lions."
"Bunnies" say: “These hyenas are evil and dangerous. If we fight them, they will tear us apart. We should step aside and try not to provoke them. And if they’ve taken some of our baby bunnies, we should try to appease the hyenas so they let them go and show that we’re gentle and harmless and not a threat to them.”
"Lions" say: “We should rip the heads off the nearby hyenas and show those severed heads to the faraway hyenas — so they’ll fear us.”
Naturally, the "bunnies" see this lion-like strategy as suicidal and view the "lions" as a threat to Israel’s very survival.
(2) Worldview
Closely related to the first point, but separate: the left generally holds a materialistic worldview.
They believe that religion cannot and should not play any meaningful role in the modern world. In their eyes, religion is nothing more than an outdated and irrational superstition.
Incidentally, this is why the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) end up in the right-wing camp, even though ideologically they are actually leftist—and this distorts their religion. Their so-called “faith,” instead of making them fearless (“lions”), is used to instill fear, turning them into not just “bunnies,” but bunnies constantly trembling with fear of the outside world.
And while ordinary secular leftists, though inclined to appeasement, are still capable of fighting (like our leftist generals, some of whom serve in right-wing governments), most of these Haredim are not capable of fighting at all. But that is a side note—albeit an important one in this context.
Because of this attitude toward religion, when the left tries to understand our enemies’ motivations, they are fundamentally unable to do so. They believe our enemies fight us because we "oppress" and "occupy" them. And what other reason could there be? So, if we stop oppressing them and withdraw, give them land—they will no longer have a reason to attack us.
To the left, this line of reasoning seems logical and rational. And because it aligns perfectly with the deep-rooted psychological conflict-avoidance strategy of the "bunnies," they find it incomprehensible how the right can be so stupid as not to see this.
Post and discussion on Facebook (in Russian)