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The Palestinians are divided between the secular Fatah movement which controls the West Bank, and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Growing Israeli disillusionment over the prospects for a peace agreement with the Palestinians and the wider Arab world promises more Jewish settlements on occupied territories and constant confrontation with Hamas.

Regional instability threatens to disrupt the relatively favorable geopolitical balance Israel has enjoyed in recent years. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries that recognize the State of Israel, and Israel’s long-time ally in Egypt, former president Hosni Mubarak, has already been swept away and replaced with an Islamist government.