The Failures of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: Balance and Imbalance

Abstract

The article presents a thesis about the reasons for the repeated failures to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Drawing on a contextualized analysis of Palestinian and other reflections on the implications of demographics, it suggests that a unique situation of strategic imbalance and balance is the main reason for the continued impasse. While the Palestinians are the weaker side in the conflict, the parity between the Jewish and Arab populations west of the Jordan River and a huge disparity between the Arab and Jewish populations in the broader Middle East, has led to a Palestinian belief that Israel’s strategic situation can only worsen and this consequently discourages the abandonment of dogmatic agendas. The article concludes with policy recommendations based on this analysis.