Middle East : Israel & Palestine

Pick a Region:. . Middle East:. . Israel & Palestine

Not all societal groups in Israel or among the Palestinians are convinced of the wisdom and appropriateness of the trading of land for peace which has been the cornerstone of the Peace Process since the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 242 in 1967. On the Palestinian side are a number of groups which reject the current negotiations as insufficient and futile. Two groups, Islamic Jihad and HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) have been particularly active in their opposition to the 1993 Oslo Accords and subsequent peace negotiations. While HAMAS overall serves a critical function as a provider of needed social services in the West Bank and Gaza, its military wing (Izzadine al Qassam) has regularly conducted terror attacks against Israeli targets in an effort to derail the peace talks.

Amongst some Israelis there are similarly strong feelings (particularly strong amongst the settler movement and some religious groups) opposed to giving up land to the Palestinians. The motives are both religious (in that some Israelis see these lands as promised to the Jews by God) and political/security focused (in that the settler communities fear either being forced to leave their homes or having to live under Palestinian political authority). Based on this opposition, there have been terror attacks committed by Israelis against Palestinians as well as the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin in 1995 by a Jewish theological student who was opposed to the peace negotiations being promoted by Rabin.

Dealing with the security issues prompted by such opposition groups, the settlements, and the inescapable proximity of Israel and any Palestinian political entity remain critical in the future Final Status negotiations between the two sides.