In the entire history of the world, NEVER has a negotiated peace resulted in a stable lasting peace.
Or phrased another way:
The ONLY way to insure a stable, lasting peace is for one party in a conflict to be so soundly defeated that they are forced to surrender UNCONDITIONALLY - no ceasefire to talk about it - UNCONDITIONALLY!
A recent example of the difference in a negotiated peace and an enforced peace can be found at the end of World War I and World War II. Even though the Kaiser and the Germans were soundly defeated at the end of World War I, the Germans were allowed some dignity. In fact, the surrender (armistice) was negotiated. The German delegates were essentially forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles some 7 months later, but the armistice itself was negotiated. Guess what? Although the Germans people felt defeated, their spirit had not been broken and as a result, their anger festered. 20 years later, that same ugly enemy reared his head. But at the end of World War II, both Germany and Japan were so soundly and thoroughly defeated that as a group, they were both a broken people. They were left with no choice but to surrendered UNCONDITIONALLY and essentially throw themselves upon our mercy. We have been at peace with both countries for more than 60 years and there is no reason to believe that condition will change.
If a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is to ever be achieved, such a thorough defeat of one side in the conflict must occur. The defeated party must be so thoroughly routed that group/national pride will be replaced with complete resignation. That state does not have to be and should not be a permanent state. Both the Germans and the Japanese were a completely broken people at the end of World War II, but look at them today. Until the spirit of either the Israelis or the Palestinians is completely broken, a lasting peace will not be possible. Sure, it is possible that achieving such a defeat might possibly require one side decimating the population of the other side, but hopefully it would not take going that far. But, the key is to not stop until it is certain that the enemy spirit is completely broken, even if it does require decimating a large portion of the population. In fact, dropping the atomic bombs on Japan is said to have had the net effect of actually saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Failure of the stronger party in this conflict to finish the job, will only result in many more deaths in the long run, on both sides, over the years that follow.
Now, the only question is, "Which side is the stronger and capable of ending this conflict decisively?"
You guessed it.
Now all that we have to do is to get Dubya to back off and let Israel do what they have every right to do - protect themselves in their own country.
I can think of at least one exception to this: the War of 1812 between America and Great Britain (modern Canada) ended in the ultimate in negotiated peace, the status quo ante bellum, and America, Great Britain, and modern Canada have pretty much had a stable lasting peace ever since. But there is no question that this is more the exception than the rule.