Hopes Are Dashed for Peace Between Israelis and Palestinians Under the Bush Administration
President Bush had hoped to help negotiate a
peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians before the end of
his second term, an accomplishment that would have helped him salvage
his tarnished reputation and establish a legacy beyond the war in
Iraq. Much of that failure was beyond Bush's control, however, given
Israel's internal political turmoil, the festering civil war between
Hamas and Fatah, and the ongoing difficulty to reach consensus on
intractable issues, such as the future status of Jerusalem, the right
of return for Palestinian refugees, and establishing a border between
Israel and a Palestinian state.
For more information on the state of affairs in the Middle East: