| Chapter 1: | The Price of Failure |
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mechanism, which coordinates responses ahead of time to prevent disputes every single time there is a crisis. To illustrate this important concept: When there was an attack on the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem in early 2008, it was clear that Israel would respond, probably by bombing Gaza; and, there were some hotheads that would try to react on a more populist level, such as in Jabal Mukaber on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Imagine if there had been a coalition in place that had superior communications and that this coalition immediately condemned such actions as detrimental to the peace process. The message would then be clear that Israel will not launch a military retaliation and the Palestinians would control the reaction at home by ensuring that statements and other such reactionary expressions were contained. With these kinds of coalitions and workable mechanisms, it is possible to work together. I am suggesting that one way to resolve the political weakness in Israel and Palestine is not only for Israel to fortify its own political system or for Palestinians to fortify theirs, but for them to work together to isolate the extremists on both sides.
Implicit in what I am saying is that it is not necessarily wise to talk to Hamas directly, unless it pertains to a ceasefire. They are not, as matters stand, partners for negotiations. They do not accept a two-state solution. But they can only be marginalized if the core coalition of Israelis and Palestinians in decision-making positions work to help each other at critical points. This collaboration has the advantage of breaking the aforementioned political weakness, when each side is thinking about what it can do to assist the other side to increase its own political strength. This is a very different kind of thinking; it should be considered, even if it may pose tremendous problems and may not be practical at this time.
Another unconventional approach, one that has been brought into the mainstream recently, is to bypass the weak domestic political environment through internationalizing the peace process. Working on the assumption that the present leaders cannot make an agreement on their own, it is important to introduce outside forces into the equation. The limits of bilateralism require broad international involvement, either in the form of presenting alternative solutions to specific issues or through the imposition of a solution.