Maggot

I think that the biggest problem is that nobody calling the shots actually wants peace. The people being blown up and terrorized want peace. Most of the people outside of Israel and Palestinian land want peace, because they're sick of the conflict agitating their populations. But the ongoing conflict has a huge benefit to the people fighting it.

Without a fight, Hamas has nothing. Take away the struggle and the money stops pouring in and angry young men quit joining up. They exist solely to fight with Israel and in doing so diminish the 'moderate' voices of the Palestinian people. You give them a fight and they get stronger. If no one is fighting them, suddenly people will have the ability to question their corruption and hypocrisy, by killing their own people, and their lack of political vision in the care of their people. Militant Palestinian groups require the conflict with Israel to justify their position and avoid criticism by the people they claim to represent.

Groups like Hezbollah operate on the same principle and are reaping the rewards of having oppressed Palestinians. They need that condition to help their movement succeed. Countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia would really like the Palestinian issue solved. Not because they give a damn about the Palestinians, but because it's an impediment to political and social progress as long as it remains.

Unfortunately, Israel also needs the ongoing struggle, but mostly for financial reasons. As long as Israel is actively scrapping with the Arabs, they can justify the billions of dollars every year shoveled their way in unconditional loans from the US, with unprecedented favourable conditions attached to those loans. They can also count on billions of dollars in extra investment, above and beyond the regular transfer payments, in direct funding to their military industries and R&D. Do you honestly think that the people who profit the most from those billions of dollars, the military brass and supporting industries, really want to lose all that funding? Militant settlers certainly don't want peace. They want to keep what they've got and take more. Israel might have to actually start sharing resources like water equitably if there was peace and they have no interest in doing so. They shot the last Israeli who tried to bring peace to the crisis.

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Work is the curse of the drinking class.

gunnut

The problem goes beyond Hamas and Hezbullah. The Arab nations need a safety valve for their population's anger. If there's no Israel/Palestinian conflict, then their population might turn inward to look for the cause of their lack of progress. With Israel/Palestinian conflict, the despots can blame the US for oppressing the Palestinians, in turn, oppressing all Arabs. Because we all know the US is the big satan.

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"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

Maggot

It might have been a handy way for Arab states to whip up the general population a few decades ago, but now it's frankly a bit of an embarrassment. They just want it dealt with and behind them, while they do their best to ignore it. They don't even really consider the Palestinians their people. What the Sunni dictatorships, we do all that oil business with, really don't want is the growing extremism that threatens the stability of their comfy rule. They don't want people like the Hezbollah inspiring their largely quiet Shia populations.

The only ones outside of Israel and the Palestinian territories to enjoy the benefits of the conflict are those profiting from it. That includes Arab Terrorist groups, Iran, and Arms Manufacturers cashing in on Israel getting free cash to buy guns and small arms dealers supplying the other side.