Determinants of Failure in a Two-Level Negotiation Game

The article examines the impact of the activity of the parties involved, as well as of third parties, on the effectiveness of strategic negotiations with non-state organizations. It affirms that third-party implication in the form of mediation has been a core part of peace formation initiatives in the deeply divided Israeli and Palestinian societies, beset by competing cultural and ethnoreligious grievances. At first, key aspects of negotiation regarding the demarcation of the Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA), the significance of concessions, power asymmetry, and the level of conflict are specified through theoretical integration. The aim is to facilitate the study of the Israel-Palestine conflict, upon which negotiation theory is applied. Further on, the analysis conducted herein proves that domestic politics and third parties' priorities have limited the necessary flexibility and undermined the respective processes. The article argues that third-party interference has been ineffective and has protracted the conflict's dynamics, thwarting peace formation, and thus contributing to a deterioration of the status of the polities involved. To partly verify the findings, an interview with a member of a Palestinian Diplomatic Representation was conducted. The conclusion entails the imperative that a substantial interest in resolving a conflict is required to be based upon the commitment and capability of each and every party involved while avoiding a self-serving bias, third-party partiality, and the augmen-tation of frustration due to arbitrary activity.