Should anyone be in doubt, 1948 lies at the very heart of this conflict. More important than resolving the illegal Israeli occupation of lands in 1967 is resolving the dispossession of one people to make room for another that occurred in 1948. Everything else is a footnote.

Unfortunately, the comparatively easier problem of dealing with 1967 shows no sign of making headway, leaving the problem of 1948 a long way off from finding resolution.

With Israeli PM Ehud Olmert under police investigation, his future seems uncertain. That will put back any potential (so far unseen) progress in the peace talks and will render agreement by the end of the year even more unlikely.

It doesn’t really matter, though. The key is 1948, something Israel is very far from admitting. The mere fact that the country is so keen to celebrate the cause of continued conflict with little evidence of soul- searching makes hopes for lasting peace hard to entertain.

Many Israelis see the right of return as a Palestinian Trojan horse. They believe Palestinians want to return in order to undermine the Jewish state from within. What they fail to see is that Palestinians are simply demanding justice. They were pushed out during war. They have a right, a human right, to be allowed to return, should they so desire.

The rhetoric of justice is in many quarters seen as an obstacle to peace. That is absurd. At least it is absurd insofar as justice is a prerequisite for lasting peace.

Unfortunately, Israel appears to have given up the notion of lasting peace in favour of military superiority. Indeed, military superiority, not justice, is seen in Israel as a prerequisite for peace.

But Israel long ago achieved military superiority over its neighbours. Peace, however, is as distant as ever.

The lesson, unfortunately, does not seem to have been learned. Sixty years have passed. It is, sadly, likely that at least another 60 years will pass with little change to show for.