“The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” It is easy to understand why many Israelis are fond of that joke. It is not just that it is mildly funny, it also artfully absolves Israel itself of blame for the failure to achieve a lasting peace settlement in the Middle East. What are Israelis expected to do if the Palestinians are so hopeless and irresponsible?

This narrative of Palestinian fecklessness will only be bolstered by Hamas’s seizure of power in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis can once again shrug and say that the Palestinians have missed an opportunity. Israel pulls out of Gaza in 2005 and what do the Palestinians do? They vote for Hamas, an Islamist party dedicated to Israel’s destruction; lob missiles into Israel itself and then start killing each other.