Middle Eastern regimes may keep the Israel conflict simmering as a safety valve

Evidence

The conflict with Israel certainly receives overwhelmingly major attention in the Arabic media, but since this is the only specific grievance that may be publicly expressed in a region of numerous and painful problems, that is hardly surprising. One may therefore wonder whether Middle Eastern governments would indeed wish for a peace settlement, which would deprive them of this valuable safety valve, leaving them to face the undeflected anger of their subjects, including those who live under the rule of the Palestine authority. From the almost monotonous regularity with which a series of promising peace processes have failed at the moment when they seemed most likely to succeed, one may be driven to the conclusion that they prefer to keep the conflict unresolved, but at a low level—simmering not boiling, and usefully controllable. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1793 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Middle Eastern regimes benefit from keeping the Israeli conflict unresolved; Arab governments may keep the Israel conflict unresolved as a safety valve — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 1793; Middle Eastern dictatorships need conflict to justify domestic oppression

Broader Connections

• Arab governments may keep the Israel conflict unresolved as a safety valve #expands (1.00) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1793
• Middle Eastern regimes benefit from keeping the Israeli conflict unresolved #corroborates (0.95)