[AtomicLabMonkey]

First of all, not all "middle-easterners" are the same. In fact most are not. All the violence in that region is made up of many separate, but sometimes interacting, conflicts.

About Israel - it wouldn't have a fraction of the problems it does with terrorism today if it had ceded back all the land it conquered after the 1967 six-day war. They gave the Sinai back to Egypt, but kept the Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza strip. All of which have been the main thorns in their side - even today, a full 40 years later.

I think some of their reasons for keeping all that territory are understandable within the context of the cold war, when the neighboring arab states were actively supported by the Soviets and a real military threat to Israel's existence. The west bank in particular is a large territorial buffer that served to deny adversaries an easy invasion route through the center of Israel to the sea, which would have cut the country in two. But the cold war ended almost 20 years ago. Israel's military has been the 800lb gorilla of the region for a long time now, and I don't think anyone can credibly argue that there is a genuine threat of invasion by a neighboring country anymore. Just as an example, the number of armored vehicles (tanks, lighter APC's, etc.) that the IDF fields alone is roughly equal to the number that Eqypt, Syria and Jordan have combined. Not to mention a large arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Their problems with Hezbollah in Lebanon have a similar basis in that Syria supports Hezbollah; Syria does this because the Golan Heights used to belong to them, and they want it back.

IMO they have basically screwed themselves in the last two decades by refusing to simply let go of the conquered, hostile populations in those 3 areas that really really really don't want to live under Israeli control.

And by the way, if you really think Israel wants to live in peace, you've been very misled. They are notorious for talking a good game, while actually doing the exact opposite (e.g. calling for peace talks and starting construction on new Israeli settlements in palestinian territory in the same week).