The Potential for Israeli-Palestinian Peace

The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is obviously a very heated issue, even in American politics. Many politicians and agreements have tried to make peace in the past, from Arafat and Rabin to Oslo 1 and 2. However, there still has been no resolution to the conflict. This begs the questions of if it will be resolved in a peaceful and lasting way in the near future.

My opinion is no, it will not.

While I truly wish this was not the case, and hope to be very wrong, I do not believe peace will be achieved given the current circumstances. As talked about in class, the closer a process gets to achieving peace, the more fiercely radicals on either side will resist it. In addition, more people (or at least those with enough influence) are getting comfortable with the current status quo. Unless the situation for enough people gets worse, and said people have a say in the process, few will be willing to challenge a system that “could be worse” for them. Finally, the salience of the issue (how front and center it is) must become much more prevalent, not only within Israeli discourse, but globally. There needs to be both international support and pressure on both parties to come to an agreement, or neither side will concede.

I truly hope I am incorrect in my prediction, but with what I know, this seems most likely.