ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that some of the mechanisms prevalent in democratizing states' ambivalent conflict behaviour help to explain why the state of Israel initially entered into the peace process with the Palestinians, but soon reverted to former hostile policies. It suggests that insights from research on the democratic peace, democratization, and the role of religious actors in violent conflicts can help to advance a comprehensive understanding of Israel's decisive role in the rise and fall of the peace process. Since the founding of Israel, the relationship of religion and state had been regulated by a de facto status quo which had strong consociational elements. The United States as well as many of the Arab neighbours supported or at least tolerated Israeli–Palestinian negotiations. In retrospective, the peace process stands out as a short period of calm and rapprochement between Israel and the Palestinians in an otherwise hostile and violent history of conflict.
