REFLECTIONS ON THE ISRAELI–PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

Abstract

The author, an Israeli “new historian”, considers that the state of Israel is legitimate, but only within its original boundaries and that the Palestinians are the main victims of the conflict, victims of Israeli colonialism. The history of the region over the last 60 years can be convincingly explained in terms of the strategy of the “iron wall”, first expounded by Jabotinski, which advocates negotiation only from a position of unassailable strength. The basic deal of “land for peace” expressed in UN Resolution 242 was sound, but never effectively implemented and Rabin, the only Israeli prime minister prepared to negotiate, was murdered. The recent, brutal onslaught on Gaza gives little grounds for optimism.

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Notes on contributors

Avi Shlaim

Avi Shlaim is Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, based at the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College, and a Fellow of the British Academy. This is the edited text of a lecture he gave to the Society on 20 October 2010.