DISSOLVING MUTUAL DELUSIONS
Both Jews and Arabs have tragically (and illogically) maintained their separate delusions.
We Jews believe that, if we grant generous territorial concessions to the Arabs, then they will genuinely want to make peace with us, and that they will happily recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people (i.e., the “win-win” paradigm of conflict resolution).
Conversely, the Arabs believe that, despite defeat after defeat, they are actually winning their long War against the Jewish people, and that winners do not compromise on their maximalist objectives (i.e., the “zero-sum” paradigm of conflict resolution).
Ironically, if both sides were to let go of their mutual delusions, then we Jews would be pursuing the “zero-sum” paradigm, which would incentivize the Arabs to pursue the “win-win” paradigm.
© Mark Rosenblit