Israel is deteriorating and it is deteriorating fast. In the past, intransigent Israeli prime ministers such as Golda Meir or Yitzhak Shamir used prevarication as a strategy to put off a compromise with the Arabs. Now this could be the cleverest option for the Palestinians: hold out for a bit longer and the Zionist experiment will implode.
The extreme right has been permitted to thrive under consecutive Israeli administrations ever since 1967 (and that includes much to Israel’s shame, Labour party administrations). Yesterday, yet another peak was reached when right wing settler activists attacked an Israeli army-base in the occupied West Bank. They threw rocks, burned tires and vandalised military vehicles. A senior IDF officer was hit in the head by a rock thrown at him by one of the Jewish terrorists.
Jewish settlers have been terrorising Palestinians for many years. Occasionally, when they feel that they do not get enough support from the army for their outrageous behaviour, they attack the army.
Is it possible that civil war is the only solution that will save Israel? We are unlikely to find out, as the left of centre in Israel will not really go all the way.