Under the assumption that the press' reactions to the case reflected the public's efforts to explain the youths' murderous behavior, this paper considers press explanations of the youths' behavior under three broad headings: social criticism, self-defense, and self-congratulation. Regarding social criticism, many observers believed that the murder was symptomatic of and even caused by more basic problems in Israeli society. Critics frequently focused on certain behavioral patterns and/or the values on which they were allegedly based. The content of the behavioral norms rather than the failure to transmit them was the major cause of concern. Explanations of the case also carried elements of self-defenses, as those responsible for the education system began the promotion of the view that the institutions for which they were responsible did not spawn the boys' violent behavior. This self-defense took the form of labeling the boys as rare exceptions to the generally positive socialization of Israeli children. The ultra-orthodox press, on the other hand, engaged in self-congratulation, as they used the case to argue that their way of life (strict adherence to the literal letter of Jewish religious law) was superior to that of secular Israelis. The case thus became a "lightning rod" for debate about what is occurring in Israeli society, thus tending to expose and deepen existing divisions within Israeli society rather than creating a unified front against the perpetrators of the crime. 19 references