Neo-Nazis and moral panic: The emergence of neo-Nazi youth gangs in Israel

The emergence of a neo-Nazi gang is an unprecedented manifestation of deviance in Israel. It has undermined the moral order and shaken the delicate nerves of Israeli society, which lives in the shadow of the Holocaust. Drawing principally on Israeli newspaper coverage, the study examines the dynamics of social discourse among policymakers, the press and pressure groups. The analysis shows that initial formulations of moral panic derived from a profound concern about changes in the social and moral order of society due to immigration. Moreover, conceptually situated within theorizations of moral risk, this moral panic was a temporary rupture in processes of moral regulation and served governing agents, which increased social control by constructing risks and dangers.