It appears that Antony Blinken’s visits have become one of the Middle East’s new rituals. He is about to head off on his tenth, according to the reported count. Scheduled for 11-15 October, the tour will cover five Arab countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. The tour does not include Israel. This does not mean that Washington is angry with Israel. It merely suggests a slight cold spell in that bilateral relationship, because any new attempt to promote a ceasefire agreement has little chance of success. The presidential elections too are around the corner, and they are growing fierce in the wake of reports of another assassination attempt on Trump and the possibility that this could help his campaign recoup some of its lost momentum.

In short, the US is very busy right now. As for the negotiations, they have become arenas for wearing down and frustrating negotiators and mediators while ongoing hostilities keep the conflict going. The main victim is the Palestinian people in Gaza and, increasingly, the Palestinians in the West Bank. However, other peoples in the region are being hurt as well. Egypt and Jordan are on high alert, since it is impossible to predict where the conflict will lead and the war has already affected the Suez Canal. Syria, Iraq, and Yemen are detrimentally affected because they have been brought into the war by militias such as the Houthis, the Popular Mobilisation Forces, and countless other factions. In Lebanon, on the other hand, Hizbullah is in an open war with Israel.

Israel is feeling confident because it knows it can hold out for Trump to ease the reputational damage it has suffered in the US and elsewhere in the West. Meanwhile, there remains a risk that the war could escalate into a wider conflict involving Iran. Everyone fears this looming regional war, but it seems that no one is trying to stop it while they can.

The region is a tinderbox. But countries and their peoples cannot stay this way for long. They have their future generations to tend to. Leaders have expectations pinned on them regarding jobs, housing, building families, progress and catching up with the global levels of advancement. That is why, in the last decade, some Arab countries resolved to change their circumstances through ambitious reform programmes. They have formed a club of wise men, who include the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, dedicated to stopping the war.

Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, the chances of ending the fighting, let alone achieving peace, are about as good as finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. That is why critical matters of this sort should not remain in the hands of Hamas and other non-state actors who claim the right to decide the fates of their countries and the future of the entire region. These groups cannot win wars, nor do they appear to have a strategy for winning them. Neither Hamas nor Hizbullah had planned for the day after 7 October 2023.

So far, the only front that no one has approached is the Israeli people. They, like the Palestinians, still entrust their lives to their leader. That leaves us with Netanyahu, Sinwar, and Hassan Nasrallah, each backed by a group of fanatics who have no problem with tens of thousands of dead and cities and infrastructures turned to rubble.

The Israeli people may be the needed link. Certainly, the club of Arab wisemen should explore this alternative in the spirit of reason, constructiveness and peace and in genuine pursuit of a Palestinian state to rescue us all from a never-ending war that is exacting a heavy price on everyone. Not all Israelis support Netanyahu and his fanatic clique. Some support Palestinian rights, others understand that forever war is not a strategy for achieving the best interests of the people, and yet others realise that Israel’s war has failed to achieve its stated goals, as the hostages are dying, and no victory is in sight.

There are still remnants of the Israeli left, not to mention Arab Israelis who blame both Israel and Palestine for not reaching a peace agreement early on and surrendering their fates to radical religious groups. There are newspapers like Haaretz calling for a ceasefire and urging peace talks as the world awaits a miracle to stop the infernal cycle.

So here is the idea: let us present a historic choice, not to Netanyahu, but to the Israeli people, to revive the spirit of the Arab peace initiative. The region is currently divided into two. One side wants peace and development, the other wants war and destruction. The choice should be presented clearly and starkly to the other side. From our experiences in Egypt, I can predict that this will trigger the ire of the far left and far right, who will unleash their battalions on social media. But I also predict that many will think about how to return to better times, when it seemed reasonable to hope for peace. So let us think about it. Let us offer the choice to the Israelis, whether they want to be a part of the region and give the Palestinians their right to a state, or whether they want endless war.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 September, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly