The Arab Israeli conflict remains one of the longest-running disputes in modern world politics and the search for a lasting peace remains as elusive as ever. The series of wars and disputes starting in 1948 after the arrival of Zionist settlers in Palestine and the creation of the new state of Israel have primarily been about territory, but a number of other issues have exacerbated and prolonged the conflict. Externally, these include superpower rivalry and interventions in the region by Western industrial powers to secure access to the Middle East s huge oil reserves. Internally, issues...