The Deadly Embrace

This book serves three main purposes. First, it compares and contrasts the historical roots, goals, strategies, organizational structures, and current activities of Palestinian and Israeli groups opposed to mutual compromise, utilizing a wide range of primary and secondary sources. Second, it examines the dynamic interaction between two rejectionist movements with mutually exclusive political agendas, illustrating how they reinforce each other's animosities. Third, it aims to bring to light a deeply entrenched issue that has persisted in the shadows, receiving both tacit and direct support from segments within American Arab and Jewish communities. While recent events like the Hebron massacre, the Rabin assassination, and suicide bombings have drawn attention to Middle Eastern terrorism, the focus has largely been on individual acts of violence. The authors argue that these incidents represent only the surface of a more profound problem: increasingly militant insurgent movements that aim to undermine the peace process and are ultimately committed to each other's destruction. The book concludes with policy recommendations for the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinian National Authority to effectively marginalize the rejectionist threat before it escalates into unprecedented violence. Co-published with the National Institute of Public Policy.