Several CW letter writers have called on me to make good on my earlier comments that I would put forward a suggested solution to the constant strife between Israel and the Palestinians. Here goes!
First, everyone should be under no illusion about a few basic facts.

1. The protagonists do not like each other.
2. Regardless of what anyone may think of how Israel was established, it’s not going anywhere. Inane calls for thinly disguised genocide in statements such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” ignore the fact that the 7.2 million Jews of Israel, and probably nearly all of the 2 million Israeli Arabs, will go nowhere. They will stay and fight. They might win.
   But if in danger of being slaughtered by Palestinian, Iranian or any other enemies, and as the homeland of the Jews, historically the most oppressed and persecuted race in the world, Israel will have no compunction in using the between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads it possesses. This would turn what is now Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza (and probably Iran, Lebanon, and Syria) into a wasteland. No one wins, and I feel sorry for the poor innocent animals caught up in all this human folly.
3. As problematic as it is, a two-state solution still seems the only answer.
   How do we get to that?
   Ideally, Israel will overcome the Hamas terrorist government of Gaza.
   Then begins the rebuilding of Gaza and moves towards a two-state solution.
   The whole world needs to chip in to help rebuild Gaza, but the real culprit who started the war – Iran – no doubt won’t. So, if need be, the moderate Arab countries and the West should do so.
   Gaza needs to be under some type of mandate and run for a while by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US, and the EU, with Israel also participating. A reasonable government can then be created there.

Under the auspices of those friendly states, a true solution to the West Bank issues needs then to be worked out. This will mean some border readjustments between the West Bank and Israel. Where there are significant clusters of Jewish settlements too large to move, the Palestinians will need to be compensated with some land swaps in Israel or some other mutually agreed form of compensation. Other settlements will need to relocate to Israel.

For the foreseeable future (30, 40 years or more), I’d suggest a demilitarised zone between Israel and the new Palestinian state patrolled by troops from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US, and NATO – and even Australia. I would suggest significant military forces – say corps strength – three divisions, about 30,000 to 50,000 troops – until things calm down.
We could provide a battalion.

Then after everyone gets used to that, with the passage of time, the warring parties may just realize that this peace thing is actually a good idea. Other supposedly intractable conflicts have been resolved with time – Ireland and Serbia v. Croatia spring to mind. Well, that’s my suggestion anyway!