Flak999

"Will this issue still be being discussed in 68 years time?"

A lasting Middle East peace treaty is the glittering prize that awaits anyone strong enough and clever enough to steer negotiations between these two protagonists. That both sides would dearly love to love in peace is beyond question; that they can do so without some territorial concessions being made by Israel is in serious doubt.

At its core this is a plain old fashioned land dispute - Palestine wants more, and Israel wants no less. You only have to look at the map to see that Israel has the lion's share of the West bank. Israelis would dearly like to force Palestinians into two small designated areas in this territory, but there's no way that the Palestinians will ever allow this to happen. It's a ready-made, permanently ticking bomb, and it's what fuels the ongoing atmosphere of hatred and mistrust.

It is now 7.41.

I have not seen any recent news but I give it until 8.00pm max.

"There will be mediation and diplomacy aplenty, and at some point there will be an uneasy cease-fire. Perhaps it will hold, perhaps it will not. Eventually however, there will be another confrontation, and the whole sorry cycle will be repeated, or so history tells us."

There will never be a resolution because of many reasons, but one important issue is to do with bias. Past mediators like Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright are/were Jewish. Now, I'm not taking sides even though the Palestinians had their land taken away from them but I would hazard a guess that if more successful negotiations were to take place a non-Jewish mediator should take the helm otherwise it could be likened to holding up a red rag to a bull.

michaelw

It's fair to point out that non-Jewish people have attempted to mediate between Palestine and Israel - notably Bill Clinton, who hosted the famous Camp David Summit in July 2000.

The official position as stated by the Israeli government is, and has been, that it recognises concessions of land by Israel are crucial to a successful settlement. Israel wants an end to the rocket attacks that are a familiar feature of the ongoing hostility between the two states.

Palestine has officially recognised the State of Israel, so that at least might be a starting point - the understanding by both parties that land would be ceded by Israel in exchange for an agreement by Palestine that all hostilities would cease permanently.

At Camp David Israel formally proposed such a solution - offering 92% of the West Bank and the entire Gaza Strip,as well as a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. Palestine, in the person of Yasser Arafat, rejected the offer, and Bill Clinton invited Arafat to make a counter-proposal. Arafat failed to do so, and the talks foundered. Bill Clinton placed the blame squarely on Arafat.

Despite several attempts there has been no concrete progress since then. What has happened is that both sides have developed an increased sense of mistrust, and that is going to be a real obstacle to any future negotiating process.