The complete idiot’s guide to Mideast peace – part 142

US warns Israel against ‘heavy-handed’ response to killings | The Times of Israel   ‘Netanyahu says Israel will expand action against Hamas if need be; missiles hit Eshkol region; Tens of thousands mourn teens at joint burial service, separate funerals; Israel vows to apprehend killers ‘dead or alive’ ‘

The dilemma that Israelis now face is an old one, a quandary familiar to Palestinians as well and for which a definitive solution has yet to be found.

What should be the response to these killings, those of the three Jewish teenagers and the six Palestinians who also died in the search that followed? More of the same in both cases would seem to be a very common reaction. The fact that such policies will only add fuel to a fire that has burned out of control for all of the past 66 years counts for very little in the immediate aftermath of what has happened.

But how can control of any sort be exercised in a situation where continual violence and confrontation have been the primary forms of treatment for generations, force-feeding a condition that becomes ever more chronic and debilitating as each new mealtime comes around?

A radical change of diet here may well prove to be the last chance for some serious improvement in what is otherwise a very poor prognosis.

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