The Great Zionist Dispute

During the endless and mostly failed negotiations to end the Gaza war, one idea has consistently emerged. Saudi Arabia, the richest Arab nation, would participate in rebuilding Gaza and officially recognize Israel. In return, Israel would publicly affirm the goal of a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank and Gaza. Making that deal would have fulfilled the dream of many Zionists: normalization, peace with all of Israel’s Arab neighbours, an end to generations of bloodshed. However, several Israeli ministers offered a different postwar vision. They suggested that Israel should rebuild the Jewish settlements in Gaza that Israel abandoned in 2005. According to one survey taken a year into the war, 38 percent of Israel’s Jewish population supported resettling Gaza.