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Eventually, the psychologists caution, the systematic use of violence could breed lack of discipline, poor motivation and ingrained brutality. Many warn that the soldiers will transfer some of their aggressive behavior in the occupied territories to civilian life back home. One senior psychologist says , he already sees symptoms of two contradictory reactions among the soldiers. At one extreme, he says, are those who are "psychically numb," insensitive and undiscriminating in the use of violence. They view beatings and bullets as the primary solutions to problems they face, and are willing to apply those remedies widely. At the other end of the spectrum are soldiers who shrink from the brutal acts they are ordered to perform. Confused over where their loyalties lie, they suffer from nightmares, depression and lack of motivation. Says the psychologist: "They feel trapped between a commitment to our value system and norms of behavior, and a commitment to the army and its orders. Do they obey the call of orders or the call of conscience?"

In an open letter published two weeks ago in Israel's Hebrew-language newspapers, some 500 psychologists and psychiatrists expressed similar concerns about the effect of the occupation on Israel as a whole. "This situation has a horrible influence on the Jewish population," they wrote. "We are busy every day in the act of oppression. We are losing our sensitivity to human suffering, and our children are being brought up on values of discrimination and racism. Our soldiers are put in an impossible situation from a moral point of view."

For the moment, most soldiers are coping relatively well. "If you don't behave as strong as a conqueror, you can't survive there," says a 23-year-old stationed in the West Bank. "You have to cut out thinking, be strong and do nasty things." To those troops who felt humiliated at having to stand by helplessly while Arabs taunted them, the beatings policy has served as a welcome antidote. Army casualties in the occupied territories have been light, but Palestinian guerrillas from Lebanon, attempting to capitalize on the uprising, killed two Israeli soldiers while seeking to attack Jewish settlements in northern Galilee.

Nizan, a 20-year-old in the Golani brigade, finds the beatings policy too weak. "I would have liked to behave in a more brutal way toward them and to really stick it to them," he said. "I'm sure if we pressed them to the wall, people here would start to understand we are the ones who run the show." Shmuel, a self-declared "rightist" who emigrated from France in 1984, agreed: "Three weeks ago, when we used the easy hand on them, it didn't work. The only thing they understand is the strong hand. I thought I could get along with the Arabs, but today I realize that is not possible anymore."