The Israeli people hold the key

Why are hopes for peace in the Middle East lower than ever? The immediate, obvious answer is that Hamas' terror attack on October 7 and Israel's response show that, for both sides, this is a fight to the finish: Hamas wants to wipe the state of Israel off the map and is trying, through the catastrophic response that it provoked, to mobilize a broader front against Israel.

For Israel, military victory means survival. For both sides, any step back will be seen not as a gesture of goodwill but as surrender. This is what hardliners on both sides exploit to keep tensions high and to hold hostage the more logical people - those who understand that at some point both nations will have to coexist under conditions that are more just.

For any compromise between Israel and the Palestinians, though, it is not enough for their leaders to suddenly be inspired by wisdom and humanist...