ABSTRACT
The core of most Israeli peace plans is the West Bank and Gaza and the question of the Palestinians. Israel’s policies with regard to peace, its government peace plans and those of the various groups within Israel reflect the tension between these two perspectives — the perspective that regards the conflict as one over substantive issues and that which underscores ideology. The willingness of the Israeli government to consider such substantive issues is more the result of outside pressures, such as those from the United States, than of the conviction that concessions will soften Arab hostility and lead to peace. Despite occasional proposals like those of Count Folke Bernadotte and Anthony Eden to revive the Plan as a basis for peace negotiations, and Arab insistence that Israel withdraw to the partition borders before engaging in peace talks, the Israel government no longer considered the Plan valid.
