Quote Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube View Post
The Israeli extremists truly believe they have a right to the land, and they've defended it valiantly for decades now. The Palestinian extremists believe the same. It is easy for people to say that they can't sympathize with militarists, jihadists, or whatever--but when pushed far enough you sometimes have to embrace violence to achieve your goals. The people truly in need of sympathy are indeed the normal folks, but I am not so high and mighty as to pretend the motivations of the 'bad guys' on both sides are foreign to me.
Nationalists are nationalists.

Anyway, back to the current situation:

I believe the Israelis and Palestinians are adding the situation in Syria into account when deciding what to do. Just how they assess the Syrian factor isn't something I claim to know, but here's a few ideas of what they may be thinking:

- Israel wants to reach their objectives(whatever that may be) before the Syrian situation is resolved. They believe the jihadi focus is currently on Assad, and wants to get things done before they can turn their eyes on Israel again.
- Israel wants to play it cool for the moment, not provocing a major conflict. They believe the Jihadis now engaged in Syria might spill over if they escalate the situation. Worst case scenario here would be a hostile Assad still in power combined with more jihadis in Palestine.
- The palestinian militants wants to do business while the iron is hot. They believe now is the time to strike because they are likely to gain assistance from the militants in Syria.
- the palestinians want a low intensity struggle, to keep things going until the jihadis win Syria, at which time they expect the jihadis to come to their aid full-force.
- With security council eyes on Syria, Israel/Palestine recons they can get away with things easier than previously. Thus, they will try to achieve minor objectives now.