What is the current situation in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians?

Bad.  Really, really bad.  The situation in the Middle
East between the Israelis and the Palestinians has become so very difficult to examine
because external interests have become so much embedded within it.  There are so many
vested interests in the conflict that it almost is beyond the inhabitants present.  I
think that anyone can draw a line from the establishment of the Israeli state and the
unrest that is present in the region as a response.  I would say that from this
complexity, more intricacy has emerged, confounded by even more anger and intensity on
both and multiple sides. The fact that Islamic organizations point to the situation in
the disputed territory as evidence of their ongoing war with both Israel and America has
helped to make a problem in the region as something that has global
implications.

For the United States, the most recent
challenge in the region is the fact that one of the major demands of the United States
in the past decade has been the need to hold democratic elections.  The Palestinians did
hold a general election and, much to the chagrin of the United States, the anti- United
States, Hamas, party won.  This has helped to create a schism in the Palestinian
governing body between the Pro- U.S. governing body and the more authentically viewed
organic government of Hamas.  Such confusion only highlights how challenging the
problems of the region are.