[Red Slinger]

^ In a real liberal democracy you have all sorts of voices including those that may be extreme and even crazy. That's the rub with a true democracy. You can't just silence voices that you disagree with. Otherwise, it's no longer a democracy. There are members of the Tea Party in the US that aren't far off this level of crazy BTW. This doesn't represent Israel, the Israeli people NOR Israeli policy. The irony is that many, if not most, of the extreme Israeli right-wingers, Zionists and illegal settlers are Americans.

Israel is no hero in this debacle. Their are a lot of right-wingers and even extreme right-wingers that are given voice because of the parliamentary system they have in place, as mentioned. This often leads to issues like illegal settlements which do nothing but inflame the situation. However, the policy of the government of Israel has NEVER been to eradicate the Palestinians. Compare that with the policy of the the elected Hamas government in Gaza who's charter is anchored around the destruction of Israel. Peace is a non-starter as long as Hamas is around.

There are really 3 or 4 major players in the region. If you follow the logic and ask "what is their end goal" I think the results are interesting.

1) The state of Israel.
End goal: Safe and secure borders where Israelis aren't under constant threat of attack and death.

2) Palestinian people.
End goal: A home that they can call their own. Freedom from oppression.

3) Surrounding Arab states.
End goal: Eradicating the threat of liberal democracies to their dictatorships. AKA the destruction of Israel.

4) The West (mostly the US)
End goal: A strategic foothold in the region for military and economic purposes.

At least one of these four(surrounding Arab states) actively works against the peace process through their proxy's of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations. The US and the West sometimes works as a destabilizer (Bush Jr., Reagan) and sometimes as a stabilizing force in the region (Clinton). The other two groups, Israeli and the Palestinians, basically just want to be left alone in peace.

If you were Israel what would you do? I think the first step is to stop/remove the settlements and secure the borders. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else can be done until those that want to destroy you no longer want to destroy you.