Leaders on both sides ignore strong majorities that crave peace, allowing extremist-led violence to preempt all opportunities for building a political consensus. Traumatized Israelis cling to the false hope that their lives will be made safer by incremental unilateral withdrawals from occupied areas, while Palestinians see their remnant territories reduced to little more than human dumping grounds surrounded by a provocative “security barrier” that embarrasses Israel’s friends and fails to bring safety or stability.
双方的领导人忽视渴望和平的绝大多数人，允许极端分子领导的暴力先发制人，扼杀所有建立政治共识的机会。饱受折磨的以色列人抓住虚幻的希望不放，那就是通过从占领地区递增的单方面撤军，他们的生活将会更加安全，而巴勒斯坦人则看到，他们残余的领土变成了人体丢弃地，周围是富有挑衅性的、另以色列的朋友难堪而又无法带来安全或稳定的“安全隔离墙”。