On Europe 1, sociologist Alain Dieckoff explains why, for the past twenty years, diplomacy has stalled in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The violent second Intifada, but also the hardening of Israeli policy, notably contributed to the stagnation of the conflict.
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This new cycle of violence serves as a reminder to what extent peace remains a very distant horizon.
After five days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, the latest Palestinian authorities' death toll on Friday reported 126 dead and 950 injured in Israeli shelling, while rockets launched at Israel killed 9 people and left more than 560 wounded.
And despite calls from the international community, it is clear that diplomacy has been in "a prolonged impasse" for twenty years now, notes sociologist Alain Dieckoff, who distinguishes several causes for this weakening of the diplomatic solution.
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The violence of the second Intifada
"What killed the diplomatic process is obviously the second Intifada, which lasted from 2000 to 2005 and which was characterized by very great violence on both sides", explains Alain Dieckoff, recalling "the suicide bombings of on the Palestinian side and the very violent repression of the Israeli army to put an end to it ".
The hardening of Israeli policy
And once this Intifada ended, "diplomacy could never resume its rights", he notes, in particular because of a clear political hardening on the Israeli side "with the advent of Benjamin Netanyahu from 2009 ".
The latter, still in power today, "had very clearly put an end to this negotiation process, of which a fairly large part of his own political formation and especially the extreme right, which was beginning to strengthen, absolutely did not want to ".
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Military
escalation
, diplomacy… Three questions on violence between Israelis and Palestinians
Much more recently, Donald Trump's tenure at the head of the United States has also slowed down the diplomatic path, the billionaire having held for four years "an extremely pro-Israeli presidency, who has completely abandoned the diplomatic logic of his predecessors".
The Palestinian cause is no longer central for several Arab regimes
Another element to take into account: the Palestinian cause has less support than in the past.
"We must distinguish between states and public opinion", nuance Alain Dieckoff, "but it is undeniable that at the geopolitical level, the Palestinian question has been marginalized in the Middle East".
Over the past twenty or thirty years, "there has been a sort of shift in the center of gravity from the Middle East to the Gulf", continues the specialist, with in particular the Iran-Iraq war, the invasion of Kuwait, the various US wars in Iraq and the Iranian question, "which has become the central issue for most Arab regimes".
Moreover, recalls the guest from Europe 1, several Arab countries have crossed the line and made peace with Israel, "like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, or even Morocco".
For these countries, "the settlement of the Palestinian question is no longer a precondition for normalization with Israel," concludes Alain Dieckoff.