Dieter Schmaglowski

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Hopeless Case for U.S. Policy in the Middle East? Dieter Schmaglowski

The Israeli-Palestinian issue remains one of the most significant and difficult dilemmas facing the international community. The ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has directly and indirectly spawned several regional wars in the past five decades, threatened Western access to critical oil resources in the Middle East, provided a justification for increased militarization throughout the region, and caused a high number of civilian deaths as result of terrorism. To end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not simply a question concerning Israel's security and finding a just solution for the Palestinians, it is vital for the interests of the U. S. in the region. Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects, however, are not hopeful. Many peace plans have been advocated to reach a settlement and the U. S., under every president from Truman to George W. Bush, has undertaken efforts on its own. Almost every peace plan has focused on persuading Jewish and Arab leaders to divide the land lying between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. However, numerous groups on both sides reject the idea that land division is the solution and the more peace initiatives move forward between Israelis and Palestinians, the more extremists on both sides are resorting to ever more outrageous acts of terrorism to compromise the progress toward a peaceful resolution. Neither the Israeli government nor the Palestinian leaders seem to be able or willing to combat these subversive elements. This leaves only one possible path to progress: an externally imposed solution. A trusted outside force will have to act not only as guarantor of any agreement, but also has to be willing to apply diplomatic, economic and military pressure on all concerned parties involved in the conflict. The U. S. should take the lead in a renewed diplomatic initiative of the international community to facilitate a sustainable settlement. Only through direct and firm U. S. commitment to a renewed peace process can