Offers an unchanging problem and solution along the lines "end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" a brain-numbing Israeli mantra for the last 65 years.

But disregards the major recent happening, Russia's active armed involvement and strategic underwriting of the "Shiite Crescent" countries - Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Is Putin's Russian military in the Middle East a little footnote left for the US protector of Israel to worry about?

Formation of blocs wouldn't make war any less likely — it would merely make the consequences worse.

Oman certainly knows this, and I'd be amazed if Israel and Jordan didn't. So the plan's a non starter.

While the lack of an independent Palestinian state certainly does not help promoting any peace between the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, an establishment of such a state is very unlikely to bring about any peace deal between the two parties, let alone with all Arab countries in the region. The conflict predates the Israeli presence in the West Bank territories by several decades, and there's no conceivable reason to believe that Israel's complete withdrawal and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state will resolve it. Considering the fact that the Palestinians themselves are bitterly divided, any such prospects are diminished even further.

Still, given the multitude of bad options available, leaving the West Bank is probably Israel's least-worst option, assuming some security buffers are put in place. But let's not delude ourselves with any grandiose dreams about comprehensive peace in the region. The most likely scenario an Israeli withdrawal will lead to is a repeat of the Gaza experience, with the West Bank turning into a chaotic hotspot for competing extremist groups, controlling the majority of the population with an iron fist and continuing to battle its neighbour.

Hi Avw

In the slow motion train crash that is the Middle East "least-worst option" is pure optimism :)

America has its gun culture while the Middle East has a gun and suicide bomb culture which thrives on long term revenge.

Maybe in 40 years time when the oil money for terrorism runs out there may be a tiny improvement.

Hi Pete,

"Maybe in 40 years time when the oil money for terrorism runs out there may be a tiny improvement"

Another bit of optimism. Or did you miss a zero there :)

We can only hope, but I will certainly not be betting on any improvement in my lifetime.
And I'm not that old yet, btw...