The brewing storm

The latest terrorist attack that happened on the temple mount has the potential for serious escalation.
It is a powder keg just waiting to explode.
The fact that some of the terrorists were killed on the mount and new security arrangement's were implemented makes this powder keg even more volatile.
This rallying cry of the invasion of "El Aksa" has worked before and will work again.
There are complications in this as the Hamas with all its rhetoric does not want to fight Israel.
Any new intifada has with it a war in Gaza Strip.
The Hamas is not ready.
Nonetheless the brewing storm is self evident and clear.
What might mitigate all this?
Arab leaders who call for calm.
The Hamas never does this.
When this powder keg does explode it will be bad for everyone.
Hold on to your hats.

You need to start somewhere.

The type of peace that involves a two state solution has never been so far off.
In fact it is past far off, it is clearly just wishful thinking.
The religious issues seem insurmountable.
After solving other seemingly impossible issues such as the status of Judea and Samaria the insolvable issue of the temple mount comes into play.
There never will be an agreement that will reconcile the Ancient Jewish claim of the temple mount with a less ancient claim of the Arabs on that site.
But politicians continue to try to do the impossible in a conflict that will fester until clear steps are taken to make clear what will be in the future.
The allies dictated terms to the Japanese after WW2.
This ended the conflict and made sure no others would fester years later.
There needs to be a absolute solution that will make clear to anyone still somewhat sane that there never will be another state west of the Jordan river.
Then and only then will there be a chance for reconciliation.
In fact the Arab state east of the Jordan river is not doing too well either.
You need to start somewhere.

New leader of Labor party

There has been a new leader elected to the Labor party in Israel.
Ho Hum indeed.
His chances of becoming prime minister some day are slim indeed.
He knows it.
As does everyone else.
None the less he was congratulated by the Palestinian leader.
Abu Mazen was and is living in a dream world as he fantasizes about receiving more from a leftist leader than a right wing one.
So he will wait two more years in the hope the left runs the country.
It wont happen and it is all wishful thinking on everyone's part.
Those who believe in a peace process should be upset that Mr. Gabai is talking about becoming prime minister.
He will push Abu Mazen away from negotiations.
It's all so futile.

Palestinians becoming irrelevant

The snubbing of the Palestinian President by the prime minister of India in his recent visit to Israel should not surprise anyone.
No one of real importance really buys into the Palestinians narrative anymore.
Countries have grown tired of endless rhetoric that leads nowhere and are fed up with just donating money to the PA.
The issues that are on the world stage are far more important than the continuing banter of the PA.
North Korea has captured the attention of the world and who really cares about a Palestinian state that will never happen??
As some of these issues fade into irrelevancy there is always a danger of hostilities by Hamas to return the "Palestinian cause" to the headlines.
The threat of a complete takeover of the Gaza strip by the IDF in case of war may discourage new hostilities by Hamas but who knows?
Though the current situation seems unsustainable the issue itself is very low priority.
Hard to say what happens now.
Probably very little.

I told you so

Nothing of substance is happening as far as the peace process goes.
It wont happen in the near future or ever for that matter.
There is no real recipe to stop the over one hundred year old fight.
Some Israelis and academics such as Daniel Pipes has suggested that there be a total victory over the Palestinians that would start a rebuilding based on victorious and vanquished.
Great idea.
It will take many decades to start to implement but it is the best way forward.
It is hard to imagine the Hamas or Islamic Jihad accepting defeat and just walking away.
If the Gaza strip is taken over partially by Egypt and with American money then maybe a post Japan model would work.
Very big maybe.
There needs to be a modern Marshall plan for the Arabs of Gaza that will rebuild the strip and help the residents.
This will cost a lot of money that many Arab states will supply with American backing.
This could be turned into a modern Arab state with commerce and modern infrastructure.
This is probably a Pipes dream (pun intended)and will not be feasible for next 20-30 years but you need to start somewhere.
After Israel enters Gaza for last time there needs to be a plan how to govern the millions who live there.
There are no simple solutions to this problem.
There needs to come forth a leader who advocates some kind of autonomy/ statehood in Gaza that does not seek to take over more territory.
This type of government needs a leader with vision.
Sadly this is not going to happen very soon.
The Japanese model was of complete unconditional surrender something that seems impossible in this neighborhood.
The idea of a Palestinian state pushes back any resolution many decades away.
This madness needs to stop someday.