MY COMMENT: I like to refer to AEI. WINEP, JINSA, Manhattan Institute, etc as “Stink Tanks”.

The public opinion polls Netanyahu reads indicate a clear trend: Most Israelis these days are more troubled by domestic issues, like education and violence, than by Jewish settlements in the territories or even the Iranian threat. The public wants the government to improve its quality of life, not to hold more peace conferences. Abbas is perceived as recalcitrant, not as a partner to an agreement.

Only one thing does bother the Israelis, according to the polls: fear of a diplomatic embargo and an international boycott. The Goldstone Report and the International Court of Justice in The Hague are arousing concern and interest, far more than Obama’s peace speeches. However, as long as relations with the rest of the world are satisfactory, Israelis see no reason to emerge from indifference and listen to the president of the United States.

The Israelis don’t want peace, essentially because they aren’t suffering from the lack of a peace agreement. The Palestinians are the ones suffering – suffering inflicted by Israel – but they have nothing to give that Israelis want and no credible threats to make. Nothing will make Israelis change their minds but a credible threat that their lives will be worse without peace, which is to say embargoes, boycotts and the prospect of their soldiers in the dock being prosecuted for war crimes.

To make peace, it is first necessary to make the Israelis want peace, which is to say to make their lives worse, less comfortable and secure as long as the occupation continues.