The prospect of a breakdown again raises the specter of another intifada, since many Palestinians may conclude that the occupation is either permanent or that diplomacy is simply an ineffective tool in resolving it and that a new uprising is the only remaining way to pressure Israel. … [I]t is essential that Palestinians do not turn to, or allow themselves to be sucked into, another round of violence. … [T]he consequences of the second intifada were disastrous for the Palestinian people and national movement. A third is likely to be even worse. For Israel, a third intifada could well signal the squandering of the last opportunity to divest itself of the occupation in a rational, workable manner, rendering what will become the de facto Israeli state as neither Jewish nor democratic in any meaningful sense …
It is imperative that some way is found to keep diplomacy alive … In the end, both parties have no option but to work toward a negotiated two-state peace agreement or continue with an ever-deteriorating conflict. It is essential that international actors … help find a formula to allow Israel to make restrained settlement expansion, and the Palestinians to make continued negotiations, politically plausible among both of their domestic constituencies. Access the full article>>
