The limit of coercion: Israel’s strategic delusion

To be sure, unlike those of more centralized, weaker actors, Palestinian identity and resistance are deeply embedded within a people rather than confined to a single hierarchy. The persistence of Palestinian identity across generations and geographies distinguishes it from cases where public disengagement led to the loss of resistance. Leadership decapitation and arrests have not eliminated the underlying structures or the broader national movement. And decades of hardship have not extinguished national consciousness.

Reconciliation on terms that would dissolve Palestinian national aspirations has repeatedly failed. Agreements such as Oslo did not resolve core issues-statehood, sovereignty, refugees, Jerusalem-and thus did not produce a durable settlement. Similarly, public support-despite immense suffering-has not collapsed in a way that delegitimizes the broader cause. Temporary cessations of violence have not resulted in permanent withdrawal and have often been followed by renewed mobilization, reflecting the persistence of unresolved grievances and generational shifts.

The conclusion that follows is both empirical and strategic: there is no historical precedent to suggest that a national movement under such conditions will simply disappear. Israel, despite overwhelming military, economic, and political power, cannot expect to resolve the conflict through domination or attrition.

The demographic balance, geographic interdependence, and profound religious and historical attachments to the land render the elimination of Palestinian national identity untenable. Continued reliance on coercive measures has produced the opposite of its intended effect: rather than inducing capitulation, it entrenches resistance while eroding Israel's international standing and moral authority.

History does not support the proposition that overwhelming force can indefinitely suppress a deeply rooted national movement without a political resolution. Where weaker parties have conceded, it has been under conditions that are absent here. The longer a viable political solution is deferred, the greater the cost-not only to Palestinians but to Israel itself.

A sustainable future cannot be built on the expectation that one side will vanish; it must rest on the recognition that both peoples are enduring, and that only a framework grounded in mutual rights, security, and dignity can bring this conflict to an end.