A new report from a leading British think tank has sounded the alarm over what it describes as a “grand plan” being pushed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US President Donald Trump, warning that their approach risks locking the Middle East into a permanent state of crisis. The analysis, published by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, argues that the pair’s strategy of deepening Israeli settlements and normalising relations with Gulf states without addressing Palestinian statehood is a recipe for long-term instability.
The report, titled “Permacrisis in the Levant”, draws on interviews with diplomats, military analysts and regional experts. It warns that the current trajectory could lead to an endless cycle of violence, economic stagnation and humanitarian suffering. “The aim appears to be to manage the conflict, not resolve it,” said Dr. Leila Fawaz, the report’s lead author. “That may provide short-term political cover for leaders in Tel Aviv and Washington, but it is a disaster for ordinary people on the ground. Palestinians see their land shrinking. Israelis see no end to security threats. And the rest of the region is left to pick up the pieces.”
The report highlights the economic toll of what it calls a “permacrisis”. It points to the collapse of the Palestinian economy, with unemployment in Gaza and the West Bank hovering near 50 per cent. It also notes the strain on neighbouring countries like Jordan and Lebanon, which host millions of refugees. “These are not just political problems. They are kitchen table problems,” said the report. “Families cannot feed their children. Young people have no work. There is no hope. And when hope dies, extremism thrives.”
The anger is palpable among communities already feeling the pinch of rising prices and regional instability. In Bradford, a city with a large Palestinian diaspora, community leader Ahmed Rashid said the news confirmed what many had feared. “My parents fled the conflict in the 1970s. Now I see my children’s generation facing the same cycle. The UK government cannot sit on the sidelines while this plan pushes us towards permanent war. We need peace with justice, not crisis management.”
The report is particularly critical of the role of British foreign policy. It notes that successive UK governments have backed the so-called “Abraham Accords” while failing to push for meaningful two-state negotiations. “Britain talks about the rules-based order, but where is the rule of law when settlements expand and homes are demolished?” asked Dr. Fawaz. “Our silence is complicity.”
The think tank is calling for an immediate freeze on settlement expansion, a renewed commitment to UN resolutions, and a UK-led push for an international peace conference. But with the political winds shifting in Washington and Jerusalem, many fear such calls will fall on deaf ears. For now, the permacrisis grinds on. And as the report warns, the cost will be measured not just in geopolitical terms, but in the price of bread and the weight of a mother’s worry.
