The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the prospects for a two-state solution is important for understanding international relations and the dynamics of the Middle East.
The only viable long-term solution to the Jewish-Arab conflict is to divide the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and create two countries for two people.
Jews have accepted the inevitability of partition, while Arabs have rejected it for much of the 100-year war.
In recent decades, the situation seems to have reversed, with one section of the Palestinian leadership, the Arab world, and the West supporting a two-state solution, while Israel is hesitant.
Understanding Israel's reasons for hesitating is important in predicting the consequences of Hamas's recent terror attacks on Israel.
The key stakeholder in the conflict has always been the Israeli public, as without their agreement, no solution is possible.
The question to ask is whether Hamas's attacks will push the Israeli public into creating a sovereign Palestinian state.
Some opinion-makers believe that Israel's recent trauma from Hamas's strikes will make the people understand the need for a sovereign Palestinian state for peace.
However, it is more likely that Israelis will come to the opposite conclusion and believe that a two-state solution will empower Palestinians to attack Israel more effectively.
Hamas does not accept Israel's right to exist and attacked Israel on its southern borders, targeting the very existence of Israel as a Jewish state.
The support of the supposedly moderate Palestinian Authority in the West Bank for Hamas only heightens Israeli fears that the end of the conflict will not be a two-state solution, but a single Palestinian state.
The main obstacle to a two-state solution has been the Palestinians' inability to convince Israeli voters that they would leave the Jews alone in the other part of the land.
There is a radical Israeli fringe that does not believe Palestinians deserve a state
Israeli voters have a widening distrust of Palestinians as partners in peace
Palestinians believe that Israeli civilians need to share their pain to force them to reduce it
Israeli perspective is that every wave of violence against their civilians makes them less likely to end the occupation of Palestinians
Recent terror attacks by Hamas will reinforce Israeli suspicions about creating a sovereign Palestinian state
Palestinians need to convince Israeli voters that a future Palestine will live peacefully next to Israel
The only way forward is for a Palestinian leadership that can credibly signal it will not use its freedoms to hurt Israel
The prospects for this seem dim.
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