The Palestine-Israel conflict is no pesky regional skirmish. This century-long battle over territory threatens to draw the entire global community into its bowels if it is not dealt with soon, and the only way out of the current paralysis is to kill the "peace process" once and for all.
There is no other way to end our dependence on what is probably the least successful attempt at conflict resolution in modern history -- like wasted addicts, hoping that another tweak here or there might be the one to produce a breakthrough. No it won't, and we need to wean ourselves from this addiction in order to find a solution.
Some realities to consider:
Nineteen years of a drawn out "peace process" has seen the establishment and institutionalization of a "peace industry" so gargantuan and far-reaching that it makes the United Nations look like a nimble start-up operation.
From Madrid to Oslo to Annapolis to the Quartet, we are hampered by agreements, roadmaps and conditions that create a thicket of red tape and limit our maneuverability. Layer upon layer of superficial "process" obscures the path forward. Which is why we are standing quite still.
Even the participants are fake. The Palestinian "Authority" -- well -- has none. We squeezed out the elected body and inserted our own players. When we throw eve-of-peace-talks ceremonies at the White House, we invite Egypt and Jordan, who have absolutely nothing of substance to contribute. And we studiously ignore all the parties that count - Hamas and Syria are fundamentally unavoidable in any settlement.
Welcome to the Middle East Peace Game -- in which we get to choose the players, make up the rules and set the time table.
Excluded from the game is anything remotely resembling an actual solution, or any meaningful negotiation around the contentious core issues. We don't want this game to end. Like NATO and the other Cold War games we set up -- we are not sure exactly how to dismantle them and have long since forgotten the end goal. The goal, it seems, is to simply stay in "play."
So here we are at the start of 2011, entering the 20th year of the "Peace Process." The reality of establishing two states died years before the idea did -- just around the time we realized that Israel had used the peace process to sneak in half a million Jewish settlers into the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, thereby ending the land-for-peace basis of any lasting agreement.
Peace Game Was a Long-Term "Jobs Program"
Established by the Oslo Agreement to allow Palestinians to begin a process of self-governance, the Palestinian Authority (PA) instead turned out to be a nifty way to remove Israeli troops from the daily grind of confrontation, whilst quite brilliantly allowing Palestinians to administer their own occupation.
And we threw money at our handpicked Palestinian leadership -- creating graft, corruption and a sense of entitlement the likes of which has not been seen since the CEO of Halliburton became vice president of the United States. In the process, we cordoned off the "opposition" into a hellhole called Gaza, and sought to destroy them by punishing an entire civilian population.
So focused were we on establishing players and rules, not for one honest second did we drill down on the core issues required to resolve this most divisive conflict: 1) final borders; 2) status of Jerusalem 3) the right of return for Palestinian refugees; 4) sovereignty issues, including water and air space rights; security, etc
The Peace Process Industry instead created a thousand other issues to be addressed first: who is in charge of guarding the grove of olive trees below that hill, around the corner from Abul Abed's house? Who is going to ride in the second car when the PA president visits a town in Sector C? Who is going to collect taxes from the Palestinian worker building a gazebo for a Jewish settler family on illegally confiscated land? And other such numbing minutae.
If Rot Persists, Do a Demolition
Quite understandably then, nothing has moved forward in twenty years. Yet today, the same set of leaders in Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, the US Congress, State Department, Arab League and European Union are still trying to resuscitate these dead talks by suggesting itty-bitty, incremental steps that they hope will breathe some life into this cadaver.
There is only one way out of this. Kill the Peace Game. No Oslo Agreement. No Palestinian Authority. No Quartet. Kill the Game now and start a new chapter premised fully on achieving a solution-at-any-cost and soliciting the participation of any party, action or initiative that can deliver results within a ridiculously short time frame. Trust me, all the parties know their bottom line after twenty years of thinking about it -- it should take about a week to figure out where they converge.
Now, I have been recently wondering why the idea of "changing course" creates such paralyzing fear amongst the group of nations/actors listed above. Honestly, I promise to not offer up even a single original idea: the script has practically been writing itself this past year -- except the main "players" have either not been watching, or are refusing to accept a new narrative that challenges their playbook.
Clearly, to end their addiction to this game, an intervention is required. Here's an example of how to do this decisively: Acting PA President Mahmoud Abbas can, in one fell swoop 1) Quit; 2) Declare that Palestinians will no longer welcome a US role in peace brokering; 3) Dissolve the Palestinian Authority and fold themselves back into the PLO or a similar umbrella liberation movement; 4) Demand that the UN Security Council enforce all resolutions on the Palestine-Israel conflict within a set timetable --or the following will take place:
Peace Process "Frankensteins" Are Failing Anyway
Now here's the rub. One can be fairly certain that Abbas and his PA cronies will do nothing of the sort. But in short shrift, that may not matter any longer.
The pro-US, Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority has virtually no credibility left among its own populations -- Israeli politicians are all over the WikiLeaks cables brandishing this fact. Without reconciliation with the main Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, the PA will fall. And since the US, Israel and Egypt have done everything in their power to prevent this reconciliation, they are the architects of the PA's demise.
As highly-militarized states do, Israel will reflexively rush to prop up its occupation, inserting IDF troops back into the West Bank to underline its authority. But now they will be facing the US-trained Palestinian security forces who will, if provoked, turn their newfound skills and weapons onto Israeli occupation targets. At that point the IDF could be facing down Hamas soldiers defending Palestinian borders and towns as well.
Either way, once the IDF is back on the scene you can expect every Who Down in Whoville to go back into resistance. Ding dong, third intifada.
Turmoil Will Finally Light a Fire Under the International Community
Twenty years of "process with no peace" has lost Washington any remaining credibility as a peace broker, and few countries will feel under obligation to pay even lip service to further US promises or plans. Attempts to veto resolutions on Israel's illegal settlements will only gain the derision of the international community at this point, and the Obama administration's recent efforts to prevent a Palestinian unilateral declaration of statehood is likely only to undermine its Palestinian partners back home.
Because whether Abbas declares an independent Palestinian state tomorrow or not, the concept is well and truly out of the box and making the rounds. Seven nations have now - quite organically, it seems -- recognized a Palestinian state in the last month: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Chile have all either recognized the state on 1967 borders or will do so imminently. And according to news outlets, Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua are also reported to be considering recognition.
It would be political suicide for the pro-US regimes of Muslim-majority states like Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia -- and Abbas' PA -- to not publicly declare their recognition of an independent Palestinian state when half of Christian Latin America has already done so.
The United Kingdom, a relatively staunch supporter of Israel, has followed this news by confirming that it is considering moves to upgrade the Palestinian delegation in London to the status of a full diplomatic mission shortly. Britain is not alone -- it joins France, Spain and Portugal in doing so.
A few weeks ago, more than two dozen former EU leaders issued a letter calling for boycotts and sanctions against Israel for rejecting a settlement freeze in the occupied territories in defiance of international law.
The 26-member Who's Who from the European Union "called for the EU to prohibit import of products made in settlements, and demanded that Israel fund the bulk of aid to Palestinians. The letter also urged the EU to make an upgrade of relations with Israel contingent on the cessation of settlement construction."
The PA warned last week that it will take the issue of Israel's illegal settlement activity to the UN Security Council, where surely a half dozen or so dusty resolutions on the subject already exist, awaiting a time when the Security Council puts its full weight behind the enforcement of these rulings. Having already used its authority to justify a war in Iraq, authorize four rounds of sanctions against Iran and fund an ill-conceived investigation into the death of a former Lebanese PM, the Security Council will be hard pressed to ignore its own resolutions on the illegal Jewish settlements.
The fact is, the time is right. Never before has Israel bent this far to the right. A series of statements and developments in the Jewish state suggest a thriving racism that fits snugly into the narrative of an "Apartheid" Israel that was bound to emerge if the two-state solution was lost -- words to that effect from no less authoritative figures than US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert.
Two Breakout Scenarios for the Bold:
Settlements first. If the UNSC can do its magic without the interference of a US veto, "de-settling" the West Bank may be the first step toward a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. Boycott, sanctions, divestment or NATO forces -- whatever it takes to get those settlers out and recognize an independent Palestinian state. This is a scenario where Israel will be required to act according to international law or suffer the consequences. The way we did it in Iraq. But legitimately, this time.
The second option: Israel militarily re-occupies the West Bank to prevent a unilateral Palestinian takeover, and we are back to square one, as though this pointless peace process had never occurred.
But this is a different world, and this would be a "back to the future" occupation. An apartheid-style state occupying Palestine cannot survive in 21st century global politics where the only thing we know what to do with Apartheid is...dismantle it. And so the second solution -- again, one that has developed quite organically - presents itself. A single state where Jews, Christians and Muslims live as equals under the law.
Now this is just pure poison for hard-core Zionists and right-wing Israelis. Many have warned Tel Aviv that the lack of progress toward establishing a Palestinian state and resolving outstanding conflict issues will result in the unraveling of the "Jewish" identity of the state -- and staunch supporters from Jeffrey Goldberg to Thomas Friedman are finally questioning the Israel "they thought they knew," a sure sign that this extremist government has broken with the international community in its thinking.
Israel has one of two choices to make right now: remove all Jewish settlements from occupied territories and withdraw behind 1967 lines, or prepare for co-existence in One State, where all residents are equal under the law. These choices will remain the same regardless of which Israeli government coalition leads the country -- neither the Israeli left or right has stopped the flow of settlers into occupied territories or forged a peace deal. So dreaming of a Netanyahu-Livni coalition will not change anything except the rhetoric.
The Palestinian leadership has one of two choices to make too: break with the peace process trajectory in order to build the foundations for a future, or go under. There is nothing of this peace process that has served Palestinian national interests, so the PA will eventually be forced to take action of some sort. The concern is not that it will not renounce the process; the danger is that it will only do it in increments -- or half-heartedly -- providing Washington and Tel Aviv an opportunity to prod vulnerabilities or exploit divisions.
Enough with the repeated threats/promises of Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat to quit, declare a state, dissolve the PA or go to the UNSC. Just do it -- and do it all at once. Kill this Peace Game and create in its place a defined, time-lined, multi-pronged strategy that utilizes the new influencers on the global stage like Russia, China, India, -- strategic Israeli trading partners -- to force a resolution based on the core issues and the removal of settlements from all occupied territories... or multilaterally declare One State for all.
Only then can we expect a breakthrough.
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Then America will veto the world. We suck as a country for this. Obama has been an empty suit on Israel and is weak when it comes to decisions. Hillary is a liar back stabber who can get anything done. We should isolate Israel into submission, not be their only friend and protector considering how the NOCONS there have been the aggressor.
First of all, since the Palestinians are under occupation, it is actually ISRAEL that is legally responsible for the security of the Palestinians.
This is the case for ANY Occupying power. They have legal obligations to protect the civilians of the occupied population.
While the many nations you mention may advocate for the Palestinians (and bear in mind that these nations have their OWN agenda, and the welfare of the Palestinians is not always their concern).
You are also making the false assumption that all Palestinians are Muslims --- they are NOT -- there are many who are Christian. (Indeed, they are the oldest Christian community in the world).
The other thing that you don't seem to realize is that the Palestinians (most of them) don't WANT to leave what they see as their HOME. They are as emotionally tied to that land as Israelis are.
This, I think is difficult for many Americans to understand. We are, after all (with the exception of the Native Americans) an immigrant nation, and we are also a people who move around a LOT.
Indeed, part of our culture is the idea that one can re-locate ("Go West, young man" as Horace Greely put it) to get a fresh start and improve our lives.
It is VERY different with the Palestinians. They have lived (or had, until forcibly displaced) for GENERATIONS in the same village or town or city. ( I'd be willing to guess that if we could trace their ancestry back, we would find that they are descended in part from the original Canaanite population of that land.) But many of the refugees -- who have been preventing from returning home, STILL have the keys and land deeds to homes which are either no longer there or have Israelis living in them. Nevertheless, those keys are their most precious possessions, and are passed down from parent to child.)
They have a strong sense of permanence, something we Americans do not. Very few Americans live in the same house where they grew up, or even in the same community.
So 123, the Palestinians would not agree to your scheme. Indeed, it is a marvel to see what they tolerate from some Israelis (mainly the settler movement types) rather than move. They are just not going to leave, and the sooner everyone realizes this, I think the sooner there will be peace.
The problem with "it is their land" is that if you go down that path it is not. They are just one set of conquerors who were in turn conquered by the Turks and the French and the British. They are not canaanites. They came from Saudi Arabia in the 600's.
And of course from previous discussions, I am aware of your problems with the OT where the land was given by God to Abraham in a promise that was not implemented until Joshua. You believe none of that was God's plans but mans plans. That is where your real problem in all of this lies. It is why you see the terrorists as the good guys.
Bravo! what a well thought out piece and very well articulated. i too believe the only way to move israel on this issue is to show the out come of a onestate solution. then they either conform to what the world community needs or no longer be a jewish state.
In all the annals of treaties and resolutions pertaining to this dispute, nowhere is there mention of land or population transfer.
Nowhere, in International Law pertaining to War is the alienation of individual property sanctioned.
It is a provable fact that only around 7% of the land and property within the fluid borders of Israel was acquired by mutual agreement of the purchaser and vendor.
This dispute is not about ethnic difference, it is about one million individuals who lost houses, farms, furniture, stock and even books and pots and pans to an invasion of people who claimed prior ownership based on dispossession forced on their ancestors 2000 years before. A dispossession that, according to current Historical opinion in Israeli academia, did not take place.
I fail to see how anyone can support any "solution" to this damnable conflict that does not take, as its first priority, restitution or compensation for the victims of this gross injustice, most of whom took no part in the hostilities.
This conflict will not begin to go away until the process of settling land claims begins.
"Everyone talks like it's complex and difficult to understand. That's a cop-out for not wanting to accept reality. It's just a classic ethnic conflict about who owns this piece of land. It's as simple as that."
-- Niel McDonald, News Middle East Bureau Chief, Canadian Broadcasting Company
And the Arab street that hates us for being involved.
So...
It is because of the people I met and some I got to know, that I care about the region so much. I hate to see the suffering that is going on -- and believe me BOTH sides are "in pain" -- though in different ways.
Certainly the Palestinians are getting the worst of it, but the Occupation is affecting Israel negatively also -- from some of the disturbing stories I have been reading, there are laws being contemplated, some being passed, and other actions which are attempting to stifle dissent, and I fear for Israel's democratic freedom.
I don't think any country can long endure being an occupier and not have its democratic freedom undermined.
Anyway, I just thought I would share some of my experiences -- while the "Arab street" may hate what our government is doing, they do not (well MOST of them) hate Americans personally.
And there is cause for hope in that.
I truly wish there was a peaceful solution, I think it will be much more complicated than your suggestion, but nothing else has worked, who knows...
Oh you poor soul,
Did someone send you here to ...do your duty?
The logistics alone of such a transfer are staggering. (Remember what happenned when they tried to evacuate a major city like New Orleans in the face of Katrina?)
The other thing you should realize is that the Palestinians who live on the West Bank WILL NOT GO!
They consider that to be their home. Many have lived in the same villages for generations.
So you have a nation that will not cooperate in what would be an act of ethnic cleansing, and a people who will NOT voluntarily go.
It is a non-starter.
Apparently Netayahu is furious - I, along with Mondoweiss and others think this is one of the most important developments of the last few years. Israel has been bushwhacked and exposed - Israel's only chance to avoid it's coming debacle in Palestine was a war on Iran - and that has just been scuttled by Dagan
http://coteret.com/2011/01/10/yediots-plocker-thank-you-mossad-for-removing-iranian-bomb-distraction-can-we-move-on-now/
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is furious with outgoing Mossad Director Meir Dagan because of the briefing Dagan gave journalists last Thursday. In the course of that briefing, Dagan shared with the reporters the Mossad’s assessment that the Iranians would be unable to develop a nuclear bomb before 2015.
Yedioth Ahronoth has learned that Dagan’s statements infuriated Netanyahu, who advocates taking an aggressive approach vis-à-vis Iran. According to a high-ranking political official, Netanyahu reprimanded Dagan and said that his statements had undermined Israel’s efforts to fight against the Iranian nuclear program by means of the international community.
What this effectively does is shift the Mideast focus back onto Israel.
Of course when one's job DEPENDS on not seeing something, it is amazing how blind some people can get.
Excellent column by the way Sharmine. You have a gift for getting to the heart of a problem clearly and succinctly.
One thing I would encourage (and I would welcome your insight on this) is for there to be more contact between Israelis and Palestinians on a personal level -- among ordinary Israelis and Palestinians. Especially with young people.
I know there is SOME of this occurring, with joint Palestinian and Israeli protests at the Wall.
Also with Israeli human rights activists helping Palestinian farmers harvest their crops and trying to keep settlers from harassing the farmers.
I know this gets little coverage --- one hears only backpage items on it. However this shakes out Israelis and Palestinians are going to be neighbors for a long time.
Keep up the good work.
As you mention it I do now recall that earlier Dagan statement but the extremely high profile and timing on this one is really seems to be a knockout punch.
I really don't see how Israel and the Neocons recover their momentum after this blow
Why Dagan blew the whistle on the Israeli attack-Iran bandwagon as his parting shot I just cannot imagine. To stop an impending attack on Iran - in the short or midterm? To perhaps force the spotlight back on Palestine and try to force resolution because of a concern for Israel itself as led by the Netanyahu/Lieberman radicals?
I would love to know
"Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said a few months ago in a series of closed discussions that in her opinion that Iranian nuclear weapons do not pose an existential threat to Israel, Haaretz magazine reveals in an article on Livni to be published Friday.
Livni also criticized the exaggerated use that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is making of the issue of the Iranian bomb, claiming that he is attempting to rally the public around him by playing on its most basic fears. Last week, former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy said similar things about Iran. "
http://www.haaretz.com/news/livni-behind-closed-doors-iran-nukes-pose-little-threat-to-israel-1.231858
In fact this game has been going on for many decades:
"For nearly three decades we have been hearing or reading dire predictions by the officials of the United States, Israel, and their allies that Iran is on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Such “warnings” have been common, but none has come true. "
http://original.antiwar.com/sahimi/2010/05/04/irans-ever-imminent-nukes/
It is all a little more complex. I think many Israelis (and I am not talking about the right wing zealots) FEAR being in a minority -- mainly because of what happened for 2000 years in Europe (sadly, at the hands of Christians). Ironically, the actions their government is taking with regard to the settlements may bring about the thing they fear the most.
I would also add that it is important to realize that there are two strains of Zionism -- classical Zionism, and Revisionist Zionism.
Classical Zionists are mostly non-religious (Yitzhak Rabin is a good example of this group) and are more open to ending the Occupation and allowing a separate Palestinian state.
As I said before, they tend to be nonreligious. (Just to give one example of something that would likely not happen today, when Israel captured the Old City in 1967, one of the soldiers hoisted an Israeli flag atop the Dome of the Rock. Then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan IMMEDIATELY ordered the flag be taken down. He wanted to send a message to the Muslim community that Israel was concerned with allowing Muslims to control their sacred sites and to have freedom of worship.)
There is another strain of Zionism -- Revisionist Zionism (and Netanyahu is a PERFECT example of one who follows this ideology). Revisionist Zionism tends to be more religious, and attaches significance to what they call "Samaria and Judea" (the West Bank) as part of "Greater Israel" -- which should belong exclusively to Israel. They are MUCH less willing to compromise on Jerusalem, and many are opposed to ANY Palestinian state. They STRONGLY support the plan of settlement and colonization of the Occupied Territories. (they want the land, but haven't figured out what to do about the fact that if Israel DOES take the land, then the nation will soon have a Palestinian demographic MAJORITY -- so most I have encountered tend to ignore this important point.)
Your Revisionist Zionism is not limited to individuals like Netanyahoo, but from the Left too. How many Left wing Israeli PM's built in Jerusalem after 67? All of them. Zionism is Zionism--all sides of the prism want to see a purely Jewish nation created on land inhabited by non-Jews, and as a consequence are ALL willing to trample on the rights of the non-Jews and even imprison them for decades, all for the safety and security of the Jewish state.
If you want to build a home somewhere, build one where someone hasn't already.
It is too late for the Zionist Dream to ever come to fruition, without genocide of a quarter of its population, and about 5 million more. under its administration. Genocide is the only other option than a One State. Two-State solution died in '48: never split a home
For 62 years now, they’ve been “predicting” that Israel’s demise is near… just around the corner… or the next corner… or the next… Every time, the “prediction” was based on an equally unimaginative “assessment” of Israel’s options. Thus, in 1967 Nasser blockaded Israel’s trade routes to the Eastern hemisphere & mobilized his army at Israel's border. The “assessment” was that this will half-strangle Israel economically; Israel would "have to" grow weaker, thus allowing Nasser to decide when to attack & “finish it off”. Israel “was trapped”. Israel, however, turned the tables. It did what Nasser did NOT expect – and dealt him a shameful defeat.
In 1990, Saddam Hussein attacked Israel with “Scud” missiles. The “assessment” was that Israel will "have to" retaliate, which will untangle the US-led coalition, save Saddam & turn everybody against Israel. Israel “was trapped”. Again Israel did the unexpected: it did NOT retaliate.
Some people never learn. So again we hear that “Israel is trapped”. It "has to" do that… or do that… and it'll lose either way. Really folks: if you ARE going to daydream, can’t you at least use your imagination a bit better?
Remember Israel was created to be both a Jewish state and a democracy.
However, the actions of building illegal settlements on occupied land set in motion a chain of events, which, combined with the population demographics make a two-state solution much more difficult (which is the stated goal of the settler movement).
And this, if unchanged (and the current government shows no sign of changing this policy of illegal colonization -- indeed if it tried, it would fall) will result in a single state with a PALESTINIAN MAJORITY.
This will mean one of two things. 1) Either Israel will deny Palestinians citizenship (there have already been attempts by Israel's third largest party to strip Israeli Palestinians of their citizenship) -- in which case Israel would become a de jure apartheid state, and thus will no longer be able to claim to be a democratic one,
OR
2) Israel will grant citizenship to the Palestinians, and the Palestinians will eventually be able to use their majority to gain power democratically. In which case Israel might still be a Jewish homeland, but it will not be a Jewish STATE. (by which one assumes, although it has never been made clear just what it MEANS to be a Jewish state, a state with a Jewish MAJORITY.)
Either way, Israel faces some MAJOR changes -- and they may not be for the better.
In many ways, Israel (at about the same age as the US when our crisis began to approach) faces a crossroads similar to that of the United States -- in the case of the US the issue was the fundamental contradiction posed by being created as a nation where "all men are created equal" -- yet there was a large segment of Americans who were legally NOT persons, but property -- i.e. slaves.
The element of racism is present, and the two countries were DEEPLY divided over THE major issue.
You know how things turned out here -- who KNOWS how Israel will face its crossroads.
But there is no escaping facing it --- Israel can only delay it (which seems to be the goal of the current Prime Minister).
It is true that the Palestinians also have to face their own crossroads, but there is little they can do because they have no real power to do anything. They are the occupied, NOT the occupiers.
lots of projection, name calling, etc., and unrelated to the discussion.
Just out today: "EU diplomats say East Jerusalem should be treated as Palestinian capital" http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/eu-diplomats-say-east-jerusalem-should-be-treated-as-palestinian-capital-1.336109
In an unprecedented report, EU heads in Ramallah and Jerusalem recommend operative steps that "constitute the foundations for sanctions against Israel."
These include boycotting Israeli businesses in - and Israeli goods from - East Jerusalem, re-opening the PLO office in EJ, placing EU officials at Israeli demolitions/evacuations of Pal homes in EJ and at court hearings on these issues, EU interventions when peaceful Pals are arrested or intimidated by Israeli authorities, and..."recommends that EU officials and politicians refuse to visit Israeli government offices that are located beyond the Green Line and that they decline any Israeli security in the Old City and elsewhere in East Jerusalem."
With the understanding that the Peace Game is not fooling anyone anymore, tensions on the rise, and a US role in peace brokering all but dead, it is inevitable that the international community will start to apply pressure on the intransigent party in this conflict. The real breakthrough, however, will be in the enforcement of UN Security Council resolutions. If the EU backs the UNSC, we will have reached the tipping point in this conflict - and it will be up to Israel to decide whether to accept a fair two-state situation or risk its long-term viability.
Pardon me, would Security for Israel be part of the etc part?
Perhaps this is part of the reason why the Palestinians can't gain their independence, perhaps if they saw that there is another party that needs to get their demands met, that Israel is not going anywhere, that it's not a one sided conversation, there would be a chance for their independence?
Things that make one go hmmmm
You are transfixed with a Hasbara concept that is thrown out at every opportunity, ie, that Israel must do "X, Y and Z" in order to ensure its "Security." Biggest hoax ever. Israel does not steal Palestinian water for its "security." It does not confiscate olive groves for its "security." It doesn't even build walls for "security" - otherwise why would it encourage Jewish women and children to go live on the "dangerous" side of that wall?
I suspect you spend an awful lot of time "Going hmmm."
Oh dear, I don't know, hamas? fatah?