[aroman]

>the various "Peace Processes" have generally been a result of pressure from outside the region.

What makes you say this? You don't think the Israelis and the Palestinians actually want peace (albeit on their own terms)?

[efuquen]

I think plenty Israelis want the Palestinians gone from Palestine and I think plenty Palestinians want Isreal erased from the map. When that is the goal of both parties, no I don't see them wanting peace.

Of course, we're making a huge generalization here, plenty of people on both sides don't have this as their goal and certainly want peace, which can only be achieved through coexistence. But when coexistence is not your goal, when the ideal terms for both parties is the dissolution of the other, then no; there can really be no peace.

Edit: btw I'm not really talking about the specifics of Yasser Arafat & Yitzhak Rabin listed by the OP, just your statement, which implied something more general then just those two.

[Dylan16807]

In an abstract sense they both want peace. That does not mean that they are actively working to reach a peaceful situation.

There is a very large gap between wanting something and being willing to truly prioritize it and sacrifice for it for the common good.

[Joeboy]

Of course they do, but clearly the Oslo Accords (for which Arafat and Rabin won their Nobel) were a product of US intervention. Concessions to the enemy are rarely a vote winner.