Israel’s halcyon days of impunity are coming to a close. At long last the world’s movers and shakers have come to realise that Israel is an instigator of violence and an obstacle to peace in this region.

In January, Israel’s 23-day war on Gaza reminded the world that Israel repeatedly embarks on bloody and destructive military adventures for the sake of protecting its illegal occupation of Arab land and wrecking any chances of reaching peace with the Palestinians and Arabs. The government which launched the campaign dubbed “Operation Cast Lead” was reputed to be a “centrist coalition” and was engaged in fruitless negotiations with the Palestinian Authority while, at the same time, building settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The international community largely condemned this war. It prompted a number of universities and firms to divest from Israeli companies and from foreign companies doing business with Israel, particularly those that sell Israel machines like bulldozers useful in its occupation of the Palestinian territories. There was an outpouring of press articles highly critical of Israel. Reputable non-governmental organisations issued reports detailing Israel’s cruelty towards the people of Gaza and violations of the laws of war.The Israeli military’s protestations have not cooled criticisms of its brutal behaviour.

The release by the UN human rights mission on Tuesday of a 574-page report which accuses Israel of waging war on the entire population of Gaza shows that Israel cannot count on its friends to shield it from criticism or the possible indictment of politicians and soldiers involved in this offensive.

Today Israel is also being exposed as an obstacle to comprehensive peace in this region due to the Netanyahu government’s refusal to freeze settlement construction in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, areas the Palestinians and the international community argue belong to a future Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks only of “cutting down the construction” in settlements.He plans to complete work on 2,500 housing units in the West Bank and has authorised 500 units in Pisgat Zeev, a settlement sprawling across the hills between East Jerusalem and Ramallah, and 455 units in other West Bank colonies. He dismissed US and Palestinian demands for a halt in East Jerusalem and says that he will build public structures, such as schools and synagogues, wherever he wishes.

One Israeli journalist writing in a Western newspaper said that Netanyahu had laid down Israel’s “red lines” and that the Palestinians, the US and Europe will have to accommodate them. However, Netanyahu has discovered that the West now recognises that the Palestinians also have “red lines”.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to insist that he will not take part in negotiations with Netanyahu unless he agrees to a total settlement freeze, a condition accepted by the Obama administration, which has tried to persuade him to comply with the demand.So far, the US administration has failed. Netanyahu’s rejectionism is a slap in the face to President Barack Obama who came to office vowing to bring an end to the century-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel’s 200-odd illegal colonies and half a million settlers have, belatedly, become a “red line” for Abbas and for the international community.Israel’s colonisation drive is making it impossible for a Palestinian state to emerge in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Without such a state, the 100-year war over possession of Palestine is certain to stretch on for, perhaps, another century.

Two Palestinian legislators told this correspondent that Abbas cannot afford to enter into negotiations with Netanyahu on his terms. Independent Mustafa Barghouthi stated: “[He] told me personally and said publicly that he will not go into negotiations unless settlements stop. There is no point in negotiating as long as Israel continues settlement.”

Hanan Ashrawi, recently appointed to the PLO Executive Committee, observed that a settlement freeze “is very difficult because of the nature of the Israeli government. It rejects going back to the 1967 boundaries and is doing everything possible to undermine the peace process”.

She said, however, that Israel seeks “to go through the motions” of negotiating while it continues to settle areas the Palestinians and the international community agree should be part of the Palestinian state.

If colonisation proceeds according to the Zionists’ long-term strategy, this region will suffer continuous Israeli military pressure and fall victim to frequent Israeli military adventures well into the 21st century. At first, Palestinians will be confined to Israeli-dominated, unconnected islands of semi-autonomous territory in the West Bank. Palestinians living in East Jerusalem will be slowly squeezed out of the Holy City by a combination of Israeli administrative procedures, house demolitions, heavy taxation and harassment. Israel will then use the same tactics in the West Bank.

Israel’s ultimate aim is to cleanse these areas of Palestinians. They will be forced to migrate to neighbouring countries, notably Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. According to Israel’s plan, Gaza will either be appended to Egypt, which will have to take responsibility for its citizens, or emptied of its population by economic pressure, deprivation and military action.

The identity of views and interests between the Palestinians and the international community - including the slow-to-catch-on US - on the settlement issue is very important. Israel, rather than the Palestinians, is likely to be openly blamed for obstructing the peace process. Heretofore, politicians and commentators always blamed the Palestinians for repeatedly missing opportunities to reach a deal. The most infamous case took place in 2000 when Israel and the US accused Palestinian president Yasser Arafat of refusing to reach an agreement during the Camp David talks. Arafat was blamed for the collapse of the talks even though he had not been really offered a concrete deal which took into consideration Palestinian “red lines”.

Blaming the Palestinians for failure whatever the reality is no longer an option. Unfortunately, however, the US also has its own “red lines” which are defined by Israel and its powerful Washington lobby. While the lobby’s clout has been eroded in recent months, partly due to Israel‘s brutal Gaza operation, Congress remains highly vulnerable to pressure and ready to torpedo the president’s initiative on settlements. There is no doubt that if there is any attempt to coerce or punish Israel, its friends and allies will battle the president on other items in his agenda, such as healthcare reform, curbing global warming and regulating Wall Street.Consequently, if Obama is serious about dealing with Israeli settlement expansion and making peace in this region, he will have to assume the risks of crossing the “red lines” drawn by the Israeli lobby.

The time is right, due to Israel’s loss of impunity and the urgent need for a peace deal before it is too late for a viable Palestinian state to emerge alongside Israel. To secure regional peace it will also have to pull out of the Syrian Golan and Lebanon‘s Shebaa Farms, the final Arab demands for a comprehensive deal.

Many years ago, a US journalistic colleague observed: “The president has not yet been born who would be prepared to take on the lobby.”

Let’s hope that Obama, the president of “change”, will prove him wrong.