The Israeli - Palestinian Conflict

Just as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “not an ‘age-old’ conflict,” neither is the acceptance of a two-state solution as the remedy for the turmoil it has spurred (10). Instead, this notion has slowly developed over time from a litany of factors. In the context of Israel, Alan Dowty flags three notions as especially impactful. First, Israeli acceptance of a two-state solution stems from the First Intifada, which “created for the first time an apparent majority among both Palestinians and Israelis in support of,” this remedy (119). This “shaking off” spurred Israeli acceptance of a two-state solution primarily in that it pacified public opinion of the Palestinian cause. While many Israelis took a “hawkish” stance before the peaceful protests of the First Intifada, after, “surveys recorded a definite dovish shift on the basic question of territorial compromise” (116). In a sense, the public became more sympathetic to the causes of their rivals and reconsidered a hardline posture against withdrawals from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This support mattered in that it spilled up to politicians making the deals. For one, elected officials had to curry favor with their constituents if they wanted to remain in office. Beyond that, though, this public outpouring was symbolic to others of Israeli intentions, which perhaps shaped Palestinian public sentiment as well. This inkling is empirically verifiable in that strong public support of a two-state solution allowed for prosperous negotiation in Oslo (120). Such a notion is even reverse causal in Dowty’s conclusion on public relevance where he argues “Even if Camp David had ended with an agreement, it is highly doubtful that Barak had the political stamina to carry through his amb...

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... reading too, in that it theorizes that states will be more likely to take actions if they have a wide backing among the international community. In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this thesis on the salience of norms matters in understanding why Palestinian people feel the right to a state in the first place. Dowty ties this sentiment to norms accepting Arab Nationalism, which argues the right to a Palestinian state, and a global push following the World War to recognize self-determination (56, 58-59). With these international sentiments, Palestine had tools with which to justify their own state. Beyond that, they were likely emboldened by this sentiment. All together, these three factors of perception, history, and norms must be viewed in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to fully understand each sides’ motives and decisions.