After Peace Talks Collapse, Will Israel be Forced to Take Unilateral Steps?

With the recent collapse of the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations, the Palestinian leadership has embarked on a broad plan of unilateral action to gain recognition of a Palestinian state and to isolate Israel internationally. Couple those developments with the Palestinian Fatah movement’s unity pact with the terrorist group Hamas, and Israel is facing a complex new reality.

Without peace talks, what options does Israel have left? Will Israel be forced to take its own unilateral steps?

…

“I don’t see the Israelis necessarily making any unilateral moves at this moment. The collapse of the peace talks wouldn’t prompt any immediate action from the Israelis, because there is no immediate threat,” Jonathan Schanzer, a Middle East expert and vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.org.

Nevertheless, with the ongoing unity talks between Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party and the terrorist group Hamas, along with recent unilateral actions by the PA through the United Nations and other international avenues, Israel may soon realize it does not have a viable partner for peace—possibly spurring a unilateral move.

“Those are the things that I think could prompt a response from Israel,” Schanzer said.

Read the full article here.