The Middle East is now in the eye of a storm. But as this storm abates, an opportunity for peace and progress has emerged. In Imperfect Compromise, Michael Karpin, an Israeli broadcast journalist, presents a new thesis about the Middle East peace settlement. He lays out an optimistic forecast: The violent conflict between Arabs and Jews that has had the greatest negative impact on world peace since the end of the Cold War is moving steadily toward resolution. Moreover, since the first Zionists settled on the shore of the Lake of Galilee a hundred years ago, the relations between Arabs and Jews have never been closer to a comprehensive and durable settlement than it is today.
Karpin's book refutes the allegedly common knowledge that the Jewish state is right-wing. The opposite is true, he argues. Secular, liberal, and moderate Zionism in Israel is still solid and firm. Settlers and nationalists, who for decades pretended to be the authentic inheritors of Israel's pioneering forefathers, are losing influence while moderates gather strength.
Among Palestinians and Israelis alike, the forces opposed to a peace settlement are weakening, public opinion is more open to compromise than the leaders are, and the principles of a final settlement have been developed. These principles need to be adopted, and Karpin demonstrates that there is no better time than the present.
