Security

The essay analyzes how beliefs regarding the feasibility of a solution became the main factor that explains current political disputes over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and why the relative silence of the left’s leaders and the ambivalent messages of the center on the issue further entrench the notion that the two-state solution is obsolete.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been waging for decades, in a never-ending cycle of military, economic and social confrontations alongside several reconciliation attempts between the two sides. Looking back at the negotiations over the past three decades, this essay asks the question: What went wrong? Why did the peace process fail and how can these learning help us to reach a sustainable agreement in the future?

This essay provides insights into how Jewish Israelis view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Former Head of the Israeli Shin Bet, Ami Ayalon, argues that Jewish Israelis do not distinguish between the two types of war that Israel is engaged in, one that is just, and one that is unjust, and sketches a roadmap for the future.

The essay deals with the role of the military in Israeli society over the past decades, its influence and authority nowadays and how it continues to shape the Israeli understanding of peace.

Even though a Jewish-Arab alliance is considered necessary for the Jewish-Israeli left to challenge the right-wing’s dominance, separation is still the guiding principle among the Zionist center-left when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The author introduces the historic background of the ‘separation discourse, its application in practice and, finally, outlines alternatives. 

The publication offers perspectives on the complex relationships between climate change and migration and questions pessimistic basic assumptions on security issues and supposedly necessary (market-oriented) adaptation measures, which currently predominate in the political debates on the topic.