ABSTRACT
The weakness of the theoretical models of “annexation” lies in the assumption that it will ever occur. A better method than “annexation” has been found to integrate and segregate at the same time: to integrate the territories for Israeli interests, and segregate the Palestinian population to avoid any burdens. In Israel, the power-relationship is in favor of the forces that view the status quo as the best of all worlds. The distinction between Israel’s sovereign territory and the area in which it rules by military government has long since lost its meaning. All Israeli objectives have been attained in the territories and Jewish interests have been assured. The dynamic of the Israeli Palestinian communal strife is similar to that of intercommunal conflicts everywhere - from Beirut to Belfast. The almost axiomatic conviction that the Israeli-Arab conflict is the core trouble of the region remains an ideological precept, but has long been overtaken by events.
