The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is a multifaceted conflict that has been going on for a century. Despite having started earlier, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which led to the institution of Israel in Palestine in 1948 marked a new age into the conflict. This is mainly as a result of the declaration carving out Israel in the middle of the Arab world, and most significantly taking a considerable portion of previously Palestinian owned territories. Since then the conflict has taken dangerous turns and twirls with no sign of a resolution (USIP, 2017). Basing on this knowledge, this paper highlights the current conflict situation of the Palestinian –Israeli conflict, and later provides a solution to the conflict.

Failed Peace Attempts

Following the 1993 failed Oslo Accords, and the rise of the second Intifada in 2000 there have been numerous attempts to come up with a feasible solution to the conflict. However, all efforts from the early 2000s seem to flounder over the fact that some details have been overlooked, or the interests of one party, especially the Palestinians are being suppressed with the latter being forced to compromise.

Currently, Israel is a recognized state although its large percentage of the nations that recognize Israel are non-Muslim. These countries equally have ties with the Jewish state, despite a large number of them being critical of how the Jewish States treats Its Palestinian counterparts. Beauchamp (2018) reports that while most non-Islam countries accept Israelis existence as a nation, it joins the ranks of the most disliked nations following a poll, and states that the West Bank settlements are the main reason for Israel’s poor global standing. Accordingly, these states view the West Bank occupation by the Israeli as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. However, the Palestinian nation still struggles to be accepted as a state, partly because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not over, or on the other hand, their desire to control the entire territory (Beauchamp, 2018; Szydzisz, 2017).

U.N Dealings

The United Nations was not involved in the partition of Palestine in 1948 to establish Israel. However, following the Jewish Arab war of 1947, United nations allowed Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and has thus been an active player in the issue ever since. However, while the United Nations seeks to have a permanent solution to the case, the clash of interest among the superpower countries in the international body has greatly hindered U.N’s functionality. The United States, for instance, has openly supported the Israeli State with the current president Donald Trump pushing countries to support an American motion at the United Nations in 2017 to acknowledge Jerusalem as the Capital City of the Jewish nation. However, while several countries supported the motion, a majority either abstained with a significant few opposing. The United States has then gone ahead to independently acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which has seen several other notable international world players do the same (Sampathkumar & Wilts, 2018). This effectively works in favor of Israel since any attempt to have a two-state solution will mean that they get to keep Jerusalem, which is of religious importance to both groups and is signed at the heart of the conflict (UN, 2018).

However, it would be unfounded to state that the United Nations has been ineffective in clearing the issue around the conflict. While the U.N may be seen as an unfair in the dealings, they have attempted in recent past to end the impasse by calling for international peace conferences by passing on the existent UN resolutions that deal with Palestine and Israel, which include resolution 242 and 194 among others (UN, 2018; USIP, 2017). However, Israel has refused to take part in such proceedings and has received the support of the United States in its decision. This further explains the impact of international interests in this case, which by default is working against the finding of a long lasting solution. For instance, the United States requires a proxy within the Middle East territory which will offer a vantage point from where it can view the actions of unfriendly states such as Iran. In itself, this clashes with the more significant need to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine

Escalation

In 2018, the Israeli parliament the Knesset passed a law that declared Israel a Jewish State. This Law, saw Hebrew become the national official language and Jerusalem in its entirety, becoming the capital city of the Jewish State. This can be seen as a consequence of the United States moving its Embassy to the City. Additionally, the law characterizes the State as a Jewish nation something that does not sit well among the Muslim minority. It is important to note that Jerusalem is of religious importance to both factions in the conflict, and to this effect has areas with Jewish settlements, with other regions being Palestinian. This resulted in an outbreak of conflicts which resulted in the death of several people, most of whom were Palestinians (USIP, 2017).

Finally, While the two factions have faced anta escalation in the conflict–although it tends to be more of political remarks and policy formulations rather than physical fights, they have both shown a willingness to compromise and come to a solution that will see both parties get obtain the maximum interests for their people (Djerejian, Muasher, & Brown, 2018). However while each solution seems plausible, whether one-state or two-state, there are a few issues that seem to prevent the reaching of a solution. However, as time proved over and over both sides must be ready to compromise, if a long-lasting solution is to be achieved.

Conclusion

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has gone through an evolution since it began in the early 19th century. However, shifting world dynamics have seen the involvement of major nations in this conflict, with each bringing its interest to the table, which has made the attainment of a solution difficult. Currently, however, the situation seems to have taken a new shape after Israel formally branded Jerusalem as their capital. While this resulted in armed conflict, a solution is not readily in the offing despite both sides having a change of heart wanting a solution.

References

Beauchamp, Z. (2018, May 14). How does the world feel about Israel/Palestine? Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080086/israel-palestine-global-opinion

Djerejian, E. P., Muasher, M., & Brown, N. (2018). Two States or One: Reappraising the Israeli Palestinian Conflict. Washington D.C: Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Sampathkumar, M., & Wilts, A. (2018, March 5). Donald Trump says recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was a wonderful thing. Retrieved from The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-benjamin-netanyahu-a8241036.html

Szydzisz, M. (2017). Israeli-Palestinian conflict – a catalog of problems to solve. Review of Nationalities, 6(1), 147–159.

1. (2018, January 25). Time to stop ‘managing’ Israeli-Palestinian conflict, show leadership to resolve it – Security Council told. Retrieved from United Nations: https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/01/1001221

USIP. (2017, October 1). The Current Situation: Israel, The Palestinian Territories, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Retrieved from United States Institute of Peace: https://www.usip.org/publications/2017/10/current-situation-israel-palestinian-territories-and-arab-israeli-conflict

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