If anything, Operation Pillar of Defense also seems to have demonstrated that negotiating with the Palestinian Authority is a fool’s errand. Not only does Mahmoud Abbas seem to be an anachronism, it should now be quite clear that turning over large parts of the West Bank to the Palestinians will only result in more real estate serving the ends of Iran – as happened in Gaza.
It would seem that issues of mutual concern have drawn the U.S. and Israel closer, in some ways, than ever before. Whether this will necessarily push the question of a Palestinian state and the contentious issue of Israeli settlements to the back burner, however, are questions that remain to be answered.
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