Inside Story

Israel and Palestine: How to stop the violence?

A deadly attack in Tel Aviv is met with Israeli measures the UN says may be collective punishment.

It has become a familiar chain of events: A Palestinian attack on an Israeli target, is met with what’s seen as a grossly disproportionate Israeli response.

A shooting in Tel Aviv on Wednesday took the lives of four Israeli civilians.

Israel responded by imposing sweeping restrictions on Palestinians and revoking 83,000 entry permits, a move the UN says may amount to collective punishment.

What’s fuelling the vicious circle? And is anyone interested in stopping it any more?

Presenter: Sami Zeidan

Guests:

Daniel Levy – Middle East and North Africa Programme director at the EU Council on Foreign Relations

Mitchell Barak – A political analyst and a former spokesman for the Israeli President Shimon Peres

Ali Abunimah – Co-founder of the online news publication Electronic Intifada