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Mr.Michaivelli, I am going to explain some ways to solve this enormous problem between the Israelis and the Palestinians. With your book “The Prince” I’ve learned a lot about princedoms, how to gain power, different strategies, how to control armies and new states, and how to deal with problems like the one we have right now in the middle east. Now I am going to help you understand and apply your own rules to this war. The Palestinians and the Israelis are fighting for the same territory in the Middle East. They both want to have the area around of the West Bank, but neither of them wants to share or make any kind of agreement between them. Obama, who is the president of the United States; Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, the President Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah of Jordan and the President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak (A Peace Plan Within Our Grasp By HOSNI MUBARAK) are going to join together to have negotiations and see if they can find peace between this two different kinds of people that have been fighting all their lives. But the problem is not only about territory, it’s also about religion; the Palestinians that are Muslims cannot cooperate with the Israelis that are Jews. In this moment the presidents of these countries are trying to find a way to solve this dilemma that it’s not only about territory but also religious; and that it has been going on for thousands of years. But there’s also another problem with armed groups like Al Qaeda and Hamas; and the only way to try to make this situation better is by making negotiations with them, so "they can commit to a lasting cease-fire and agree to stop all attacks from the territory under its control" (How to Handle Hamas By DANIEL BYMAN ). I know that you wrote “The Prince” to try to show Italy what to do during that period of catastrophe. But this book is also going to help the war that is happening right now between the Palestinians and the Israelis; and it will help other governments to acquire the territory, people, and army that they want and need. You explain in chapter 7 of The Prince four ways of gaining power. “First, by exterminating all who were of kin to those lords whom he had despoiled of their possessions.” One way to finish this endless war is by exterminating all those who are the problem. Al Qaeda and Hamas are armed groups that, as Daniel Byman said “the biggest obstacle between Israelis and Palestinians” They are the ones that cause trouble every time that the Palestinians try to make negotiations with Israel. They are the ones that kill people and frightened everyone with their hatred. You said that the best way to get to power is by exterminating those that are in your way, but now it’s a very different situation; because we are talking about a whole race of people. And as history show us; it’s not the first time that someone had thought of something like this. Hitler for example got to power by killing, murdering, torturing, and destroying thousands of families; but it became impossible to him to get to his goal. In chapter 8 you say “Still, to slaughter fellow-citizens, to betray friends, to be devoid of honour, pity, and religion, cannot be counted as merits, for these are means which may lead to power, but which confer no glory.” To try to exterminate an ethnic group of people would be one way of getting to power and ending the war, but as you say in your book, it will not confer no glory. It will probably raise more hatred between the people and it will cause more troubles in the future. You said in your book that it was better to be feared than loved; either liberal or miserly, generous or greedy, cruel or tender-hearted, faithless or true to his word, effeminate and cowardly or high-spirited and courageous (chapter 15); but a prince or a government cannot be both at the same time. There is two ways to solve this problem; one by declaring war and getting rid of everyone that stands in your way; or by being tender-hearted and trying to solve it by negotiations and division of the territory, which is harder than the first choice. At this moment everyone is divided into these two options. The Hamas prefer to be feared than loved; they took full responsibility for the killing of four Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman (Killing of Israeli Settlers Rattles Leaders By ISABEL KERSHNER and MARK LANDLER). They want to produce terror and show that they are haughty and firm to their believes. They also see this as a heroic act because they are not betraying their people and they are fighting for what is theirs. But as the article “Killing of Israeli Settlers Rattles Leaders” says terror will not determine the borders of Israel or the future of settlements. This might have work for some cases like the example of Hannibal that you showed in chapter 17. He was feared by everyone, even his own army and this technique worked perfect for him because he conquered a lot of land. The second choice to solve this problem is by being loved and going the peaceful way. The problem with this option is that, as you say in your book, “men are less careful how they offend him who makes himself loved than him who makes himself feared.”(Ch.17). President Obama and the rest of the groups are trying to make an agreement between Palestinians and Israelis, so both end up satisfied; but the problem is that by showing love instead of fear; they are not scared to say no and it will be harder for everyone to accept to one condition. As the article “Experts Fear Mideast Talks Are Too Ambitious By ISABEL KERSHNER” says the Israelis accepted to a 93 percent withdrawal of the West Bank but the Palestinians did not accept this; and we are sure that they are not going to accept anything less than this. Both presidents for both sides want different agreements which are impossible to do equally, so the easiest and safest way to solve this conflict is by showing feared instead of loved. Mr.Michiavelli, I hope that you understand better the war between Israel and Palestine. In my opinion this war is not impossible to end, as you said in your book in chapter 24 “For men are more nearly touched by things present than by things past.” Men can forget about the past, if you give them a reason. To solve a problem like this one, you have to options either be loved or feared. And if you have to eliminate someone that is causing trouble, you have to do it; but you also have to be very careful and never be dishonest.