Over the past 40 years, proposals to end the Arab-Israeli conflict have generally specified the following two pre-conditions. 1. The Islamic nations must recognize Israel's right to exist in peace in the region. 2. Israel must return the Gaza and West Bank areas. These pre-conditions appear to conflict with the following aspects of Islamic and Jewish religious traditions. 1. Mohammed's final command that only one religion must occupy the Arabian Peninsula; therefore, the Jews must leave. 2. Moses' final command that the Israelites must occupy the Promised land, which includes Gaza and the West Bank; therefore, the Arabs must leave. Previous proposals have largely ignored these religious traditions and have sought to apply political solutions to the symptoms of these religious issues. Islamic and Jewish political leaders are well aware that accepting their pre-condition would violate critical aspects of their respective religious traditions. Therefore, both sides appear to have negotiated in bad-faith in order to avoid the fatal consequences of making unpopular decisions. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin are reported to have been assassinated, because they were the first national leaders to formally accept the pre-conditions. Until the religious issues are resolved, the Jewish and Islamic political leaders are essentially being forced to negotiate a compromise solution in bad-faith, because they are well aware that their respective populations will never agree to the negotiated terms. Walter Phillips has spent the past 30 years studying the Arab-Israeli conflict. He provides a workable solution to the conflict that resolves the religious issues and proposes an equitable political solution.
About the Author: Walter Phillips has studied the Bible and early civilizations for the past 30 years and the Qur'an for the past 9. He holds Bachelor degrees in mathematics and structural engineering, and Master degrees in environmental engineering and land-use planning. He has participated in trade negotiations at the national, regional, hemispheric, and global levels, and has spent the past 20 years analysing evidence and designing solutions to problems. Walter is the author of Brothers Kept Apart, an investigation of the principal assumptions that have divided Christians and Muslims for the past 1300 years, and provides a way forward for their reconciliation.