DYER: “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the ‘peace process’” (Georgia Straight, CA)

Gwynne Dyer at the Georgia Straight argues that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has failed due to domestic Israeli politics.

He notes that the 1993 Oslo Accords were supposed to inaugurate negotiations that would result in two sovereign states living side by side in peace. The process, however, has instead become a means through which Israelis who oppose the creation of a Palestinian state can block the two-state solution through endless negotiations. The coalition government headed by Benyamin Netanyahu relies upon the support of Israeli political parties that are vehemently opposed to the removal of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu thus is uninterested in productive negotiations with the Palestinians. He has been criticized strongly for his failure to negotiate by Yossi Beilin, the former deputy foreign minister who helped negotiate the Oslo Accords, and Yuval Diskin, the recently retired head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency. Without a two-state solution, the Israeli’s are left with only two other options: either a permanent Israeli military rule over a Palestinian majority population, or a single state that, though democratic, is no longer exclusively Jewish in character. Both are objectionable to the Israeli people. The two-state solution remains the best option for peace, if the Israelis ever can bring themselves to serious negotiations and the removal of Jewish settlements from Palestinian land. (link to article)