Will significant peace wver prevail between Palestine and Israel - Essay Example

Will significant peace ever prevail between Israel and Palestine? The quest for peaceful resolution of the Israel and Palestine conflict since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, which culminated in the six days war in 1967 has taken on a new face usually termed peace process. The peace process is usually used to describe various paths taken in order to secure lasting peace to the conflict. Indeed, over the years, various attempts have been made in securing lasting peace and these include the Rogers peace plan and the Saddat initiative (1970 – 1972), Madrid Conference (1991), Oslo Accords (1993), Hebron Agreement (1997), Wye River Memorandum (1998), Camp David 2000 Summit (2000), Clinton’s “Parameters” and the Taba talks (2000 – 2001), Beirut Summit (2002), the “Road Map” for Peace (2002 – 2003), Israel-Hamas ceasefire of 2008 (2008), the 2010 direct talks (2010) and other alternative peace proposals.

Despite these efforts, the prospect of everlasting peace is still far from realization. The major obstacle in achieving significant peace in the Israelis-Palestinian conflict is the lack of good will among leaders of both sides. Most often, promises to carry out peace deal were not kept by the Israeli as well as the Palestinian leaders. Furthermore, peace negotiations have been interrupted by outbreaks of hostilities between both sides. Other issues that stand against lasting peace in the conflict are related to borders and division of the land, Palestinians’ concern over Israelis settlements in the West Bank, the status of Jerusalem, Israelis’ concern over security, terrorism, safety and violence, right of return of Palestinian refugees living in the Palestinian Diaspora and the emotional bitterness among Israelis and Palestinians.

The key issue on the Israelis side that hampers lasting peace is security concern. The Israelis leadership doubts Palestinian Authority’s commitment in combating terrorism and in promoting peaceful co-existence with Israel. From the Palestinian side, the right of return of Palestinians is the key issue. While the above mentioned issues remain, a less ambitious proposal for peace was initiated by the George W. Bush administration under the “Road Map” for peace (Yaari, 2010). This proposal, which forms the central point of discussion in the Obama’s administration orchestrated 2010 direct talks, was the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

Despite President Obama hope as expressed to the United Nations on September 23 2010 of achieving diplomatic peace within a year, no significant breakthrough is within sight. While the Palestinian negotiation team refused to concede to the demand of the Israelis for a Jewish state of Israel alongside a Palestinian state, the Israelis remain committed to the “two states for two people formula” for peace. Even during the direct talks, Palestinian militant groups disrupted the peace talks, killing and wounding eight Israelis.

Furthermore, Palestinians have demanded immediate stop to construction Jewish settlements sites by Israel, a demand that was vetoed by the United States in a United Nation Security Council Resolution. Recently, the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a provisional peace deal would see a Palestinian state established with provisional borders; however, this proposal was turned down by the Palestinians Authority. Given the recalcitrant stands of the Israeli and the Palestinian Authority in compromising the demands over the issues that hinder the peace process, it is evident that significant peace will not be reached.

Besides, the hypocrisy of so-called peace negotiators as shown by the US veto on a United Nations Security Council Resolution that demands Israel to stop construction of settlement sites also suggest that peaceful resolution of the Israelis-Palestinian conflict is not within sight. Unless both sides including their allies compromise their positions for the sake of peace for instance trading land for peace (Miller, 2010), no significant peace will ever prevail in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

References Miller, A. D. (2010, May/June). The False religion of mideast peace. Foreign Policy. Yaari, E. (2010, March/April). Armistice now: an interim agreement for Israel and Palestine. Foreign Affairs.