While Vast and Sarah search for moral balance in the land of broken clocks …

I’m going to remain firmly entrenched in the realist camp and assume, like all wars, this is about resources. Anybody want to place a bet that when this is over Israel gets a great deal on Palestinian oil and natural gas? I could be wrong. Who ever heard of bombing the shit out of a country to destabilize it in order to get control of its oil?

In the late 1990s, the Palestinian government was able to secure an agreement with British Gas that allowed them to begin drilling for natural gas and oil in the Mediterranean Sea. After years of drilling and exploration, Palestine was rewarded with an oil reserve 22 miles off of the coast of the Gaza Strip. The entire country was excited by this natural mineral that would hopefully provide them with the economic freedom and financial stability they desired. Unfortunately, the financial success did not come directly on the heels of their discovery.

International instability and internal political strife has made it extremely difficult for Palestinian officials to utilize their newfound resource. In 2005 Israel delivered a major blow to the Palestinians fledgling oil industry by choosing to import natural gas from Egypt. By doing this, Israel completely bypassed its neighbor in favor of making a political statement. The Israeli government feared that any money given to Palestine would be later used to fund acts of terrorism against Israel. Link