Both right. Both wrong. But only one really bears responsibility.

[BlueCheese]

23. Let's do a thought experiment.

Suppose that tomorrow, Israel unilaterally announced that it would withdraw to its 1967 borders and recognize an independent state of Palestine on the West Bank and Gaza. There would be issues to work out, of course, such as the fate of East Jerusalem, but let's suppose that it was done in a way that many outside observers thought reasonable. To an approximation, this is what was on the table during the Camp David negotiations in 2000, though the Palestinians had real cause for objections to many of the provisions.

Would Palestinians be satisfied with such an outcome?

For what it's worth, my guess is that some would and some would not. I think that moderate Palestinians, such as some of those leading Fatah, would embrace this. Unfortunately, however, some would not. Hamas, almost certainly, would still want to eliminate Israel altogether.

This isn't to say that Israel shouldn't do this anyway (though perhaps over time, and not necessarily tomorrow), because it would be the right thing to do. But I don't think it would stop the long-term war, unfortunately.