The violent mass demonstrations sweeping across the West Bank in the last few days should have taken no one by surprise. They were to be expected. Indeed, the events were foreseen long before. Seniors in the Israeli defense establishment have been warning for the past two years against the potential outbreak of violence in the territories, and thorough preparations have been made in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in anticipation of this ominous scenario.

More than anything, the recent developments in the territories testify to the vortex of folly into which the entire Middle East has been drawn and which has been totally generated by the players in the arena themselves. Israel has failed to take advantage of the recent years of quiet — secured thanks to the efficient action of the Israeli defense establishment, on the one hand, and the interest the Palestinian Authority had in keeping the quiet, on the other. Thus it missed the opportunity to formulate an effective outline for progress in the diplomatic process.

As a matter of fact, the impression created by the outgoing Israeli government is that against its will, it was pushed, stamping and screaming, into attempting to revive the peace process. At the same time, absurd ideas have been raised in the Israeli political discourse, some calling for the legal annexation of parts of the territories, while others suggesting the adoption of the status quo as an ongoing policy — as though the status quo could be sustained forever; as if it were not a crisis liable to blow up at any moment.

It was a folly, but it was not the doing of the Israelis alone. The Palestinians, for their part, have been undergoing a fierce internal power struggle, which threatened and continued to threaten the chances of achieving a settlement. The confrontation between Hamas and Fatah has locked the Palestinian Authority into inaction and time after time sent it climbing up tall trees, far removed from any real desire to negotiate. Whether it was the issue of a building freeze in the settlements or the bid for UN recognition, the Palestinians invariably focused on exerting diplomatic pressure on both Israel and the United States, but refrained from entering into negotiations with Israel for fear that the Netanyahu government would thereby get undue credit, while leaving them without any tangible achievement. Three years later, the Palestinian Authority has found itself without negotiations and devoid of any tangible accomplishment.