The two-state solution is the most lucrative option for both Israelis and Palestinians, claims a report by nonprofit global policy think tank RAND Corporation called The Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The recently published research weighs up the costs and benefits of five possible outcomes of the ever-stalling ‘peace process’, against a continuation of present trends, over a 10-year period. The question remains, however, whether money is, or even should be, the biggest incentive or driver behind peace. In conducting the study, which involved 200-odd interviews with officials from both sides, they set out to find out the net costs and benefits to Israelis and Palestinians if the current impasse endures until 2024. The study also presented the non-economic factors influencing Israeli and Palestinian opinions on the alternative trajectories and the longer-term implications of the continuing status quo for Israel, the Palestinian territories and the international community. Furthermore, they created an interactive calculator on their website with customizable scenarios to allow users to assess the effects of various factors, such as BDS, refugees and settlers, on the Israeli and Palestinian GDP. The alternative outcomes considered by the study, in order of…
