Israeli Voices on Peace with Palestinians
By Joseph Setinsek
JERUSALEM
More than 50 years after Israel won a decisive victory in the Six Day War, both the country and its people are still uncertain about what to do with the West Bank and the Palestinians inside of it.
Many Israelis disagree on whether peace is even possible, with religion and fear driving many of their opinions.
“They hate us. They want to kill us, because I’m Jewish,” says 18-year-old Hillel Dery, a restaurant worker who lives in a West Bank settlement called Eli.

Dery is among the 10 percent of the Israeli population living in the West Bank. Palestinians are a majority there and consider that land as their future state, but Israelis like Dery consider it their Biblical birthright to live there.
He says he would like to be friendly with Arabs, but does not feel safe with Palestinians because of attacks. “You feel like you are not in your own country,” says Dery. “The Arabs, they took our country. They have Jordan and Lebanon.”
Dery’s opinion appears to be typical among Israelis, who increasingly do not support a two-state solution to the conflict, according to a major poll released in early August.
A life long Jerusalem resident, 54-year-old Batuga Davon runs an art and jewelry store. She is one of the many Israelis who feels like peace is not possible. “I don’t believe it will happen, because of Jihad,” says Davon.

She says her cousin was attacked by Palestinians* and if possible she wants to increase the separation “between Jewish [people] and Arabs, because of all the terrorism.”
“There are places I cannot go, like the Old City,” Davon adds. She feels like she is not safe in the Old City of Jerusalem because of the Arabs there.
Some Israelis however do believe peace is possible, if only further in the future. “Not short term, maybe long term,” says 24-year-old Moshe Ben Yehuda. “People in a few generations will not care,” says Ben Yehuda.
Ben Yehuda feels that as the world becomes more globalized and people become more interconnected, the divisions between religions and cultures will lessen.

He was born into an ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem and served three years the Israeli Defense Force’s Golani Brigade, in one of its special forces battalions. He is now an atheist, and believes religion is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stands in the way of peace.
“As long as there’s religion it won’t work. Religion makes people do stupid things, like terror attacks,” says Ben Yehuda. He would like more international people to visit Jerusalem and expose residents to outside perspectives.
Even though Ben Yehuda lost seven close friends while in the army, he empathizes with the Palestinians. “Still, I don’t think that’s a reason to hate Arabs. I have Arab friends,” says Ben Yehuda.
Sitting in the shade on a hot summer day at Ben Yehuda Street, 46-year-old Yozam Amah relaxes with a fidget spinner in hand.
“I believe in peace between Arabs and Jews,” says Amah. A Jerusalem resident, he thinks there can be “conversation between Israelis and Palestinians with the involvement of the Americans.”
Between busses at the Central Bus Station, David Rosen stands glued to his phone.
Rosen is a 19-year-old Israeli living in Jerusalem. He works alongside Arabs in a pizza restaurant, and like Ben Yehuda and Amah, Rosen also thinks peace is possible.
“Both of the people that live here can still live here and live peacefully,” said Rosen. For him, “peace is a dream I want to come true.”

