Interreligious Dialogue and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Empirical View · 297peace building; however, their challenge is to transform relationships and
move the Israeli-Palestinian conflict toward a more positive reality. This
is along the lines of what Kelman has suggested concerning the develop-
ment of a “transcendent” identity between Israelis and Palestinians, who
both have a commitment to being on the same land, and Gopin, who has
sought to tap the potential of world religions toward building peace in
the form of promoting “constructive conflict.”^26
We would also note that the importance of interreligious dialogue
as an approach to Israeli-Palestinian peace building lies in the very fact
that it brings together the population sectors on both sides, which have
seemed to be the most resistant to peace efforts. Interreligious dialogues
between dedicated adherents can be fruitful and can bolster overall pros-
pects for peace.
It is also important to note a methodological issue involving the com-
bination of disciplinary tools necessary to manage the type of dialogue
described here. As a political scientist nurturing the first contacts with the
students from Hebron, I could not have effectively done so without an
appreciation for the dynamics of interest and power occurring between
Israel and the Palestinians on the macro level. However, this approach
has been augmented by the data reported by Chaim Lavie, a social psy-
chologist, concerning micro-level perception change, along with other
essential insights, such as those emanating from anthropology. For a dia-
logue of this sort to have significance with possible implications for the
macro level, a variety of disciplinary tools need to be employed.
The Contribution of Federalist Thinking
In attempting to extend the importance of the interreligious dialogue to
the larger Middle East, it is relevant to refer to another concept—that of
federalism—which can readily be integrated and applied to the type of
work described here to form a more coherent strategy for interreligious
dialogue. The effort to find similarities between Islam and Judaism in its
very foundation suggests a pluralistic diverse Middle East divided along
ethnic and religious lines.
Thus the attempt to apply interreligious dialogue as a tool for build-
ing peace in the Middle East can be further enhanced by the insights and
contribution of the eminent Israeli political scientist Daniel J. Elazar at
Bar-Ilan University, who was a pioneer and seminal thinker in the areas