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Why it's time for US to take firm approach to two-state solution

Instead of contemplating a passive approach, the United States could declare 2018 the year of permanent status for the two-state solution, establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.
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The recent violence in and from the West Bank has made many American diplomats nervous about a bigger breakdown of Middle Eastern stability. Arab media outlets and social networks buzzing about Palestinian casualties and an Israeli affront on Al-Aqsa are a sure recipe for regional turmoil.

Middle East policy analysts from the US State Department have told Al-Monitor that several policy options are being weighed to restore stability and, more importantly, to set a basis for an eventual peace process. These analysts are unanimous in their diagnosis of the dangers facing the region. They qualify the sporadic daily terror attacks against Israel as an outbreak of anger provoked by the ongoing humiliation that results from military occupation of large parts of the West Bank. The inspiration for attacks and the daily knifings come from social network posts and pictures glorifying youth resistance. Hamas, in the view of these analysts, is encouraging the violence and attempting to instigate an intifada, mainly to weaken President Mahmoud Abbas' position in the West Bank. He is branded by them — and also by some Fatah nationalists — as a traitor for his security cooperation with Israel at this time. The fact that this violence has taken on religious undertones with the motto of rescuing Al-Aqsa in the name of Islam raises additional concerns in Washington — that the crisis could grow and transform into a broader regional confrontation, with other Islamist and fundamentalist organizations joining in.

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