Those two conditions sound like exactly the right 2 conditions to me, Wolfgang. Very sensible.

I think what we have in the case of the Middle East is two intransigent sets of opponents, both too proud and too paranoid and too selfish to bend, both of whom are essentially saying something like..."Well, we would be willing to do that IF the other guys weren't bad people who can never be trusted...and IF they would do their half of it FIRST...(ha! ha!)...in other words, we are not willing to do our half, so forget it. It's not going to happen."

It's kind of like getting two people on this forum who argue perpetually about politics to both agree to respect and be reasonable to the other person and NOT try to get the LAST word in on the subject. In other words, forget it. It's not going to happen. ;-)

The trouble, you see, is that most people do not want a reasonable accomodation with an opponent...they want a decisive and final victory over him (or her)!

I don't think the Israelis or their various Muslim enemies are going to find a decisive and final victory...nor are the arguers on this forum, as far as that goes.