By Daniel Burton

With the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), another attempt at negotiations between Israel and Palestine has collapsed.

Abbas's relinquishing of his duties is a de-facto admission that the PA has failed in its objectives to negotiate with the new government of Binyamin Netanyahu. There have been a number of reasons, both Palestinian and Israeli, including the refusal of the Netanyahu government to cease building settlements and the PA's inability to reign in the Palestinian militants. But this, however, is not what this article is concerned with.

Everybody hears about the Palestinian militants. In recent months, the Palestinians have been stockpiling rockets. This wouldn't be news except for the fact that this type of rocket is a new one with 60-kilometer range and a larger warhead. This means that Hamas now has the ability to reach Tel Aviv and other targets and hit them with larger payloads. These rockets have been tested by firing them into the Mediterranean Sea. The usual militant declarations continue but the Israeli offensive into Gaza earlier this year seems to have degraded their ability to fight for now.

However, Israel and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) now have a new type of militant to deal with: the militant Israeli settler. In 2008, there was a terrorist attack on the home of Ze'ev Sternhell, a holocaust survivor and ardent peace activist in Israel who opposed the building of new settlements as an obstacle to peace.

The perpetrator of this attack was not a Palestinian but Jack Teitel, a U.S. born Israeli who has since been charged with 14 acts of terrorism, including murder. There are also the followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane who are similar in their outlook to the survivalists in the U.S. in that they believe the government intends to come and remove them from their lands and they are willing to use military force to defend it.

Yet there are a number of obvious differences: firstly, these Israelis have housed themselves in illegal settlements (that is, illegal and unsanctioned by Israeli law) believing that God gave the Israelites this land so it is theirs by right. Secondly, they are all well trained having served as conscripts with the IDF and well armed. Thirdly, the government is highly likely to remove them from their land as they are there illegally.

All this begs the question what can Israel do to achieve peace? If they work with the Palestinians, it increases unrest, and possibly adds to the ranks of the militant settlers; if they work with the settlers, it increases unrest with the Palestinians.

Either way militancy is fuelled, and unrest continues with tit-for-tat violence on both sides. Nobody wins. This region is inherently unstable and the impetus for war can come from anywhere and with the advent of the militant settler it appears that one more ingredient has been added to the mix of an already volatile situation.

The writer is from the U.K. and holds a master's degree in security and war. He currently works in Korea as a head teacher and can be contacted at the UNESCO Peace Center. His email address is danb312@yahoo.co.uk.