The Israelis and Palestinians have been unable to reach a lasting peace agreement. Although the reasons are complex, a study of the barriers that hinder peacemaking efforts can shed light on what needs to be done to overcome them.
One of the primary barriers is strategic: the negotiators’ effort to maximize their own gains at the expense of their counterparts. In the past, this has meant pushing a hard bargain and using tactics such as positional bargaining to claim value for their own demands, even when it undermines trust.
Another barrier is structural: the internal political structures that constrain the negotiating process and its outcomes. For example, the Israeli political system is highly fragmented and is prone to frequent leadership changes. This has meant that negotiations are often renegotiated with different individuals at the negotiating table and the emergence of distinct negotiating groups.
This creates coordination problems and reduces the overall effectiveness of the negotiating process. The result is a recursive process with no visible progress toward an end to the conflict.
On the Palestinian side, the major political wishes are security guarantees (though Israel is not concerned about a war with an external adversary, it does worry about suicide bombs and other internal insurgencies). However, the Palestinians also want to end their isolation from the rest of the world, especially recognizing Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel. This is difficult to accomplish without Israel accepting defensible borders and renunciation of the right of return.