In Thrall to Theory -- Review of 'The Only Language They Understand' By Nathan Thrall:

Seth Mandel, Review of 'The Only Language They Understand' By Nathan Thrall, Commentary

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Excerpt:

A harsh critic of Israeli policy, Thrall nonetheless has earned a rare degree of respect and intellectual admiration from his ideological adversaries. And that’s why Thrall and his belligerent new book, The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine, must be taken seriously.

The book gets many things right, as when Thrall scornfully offers a list of common excuses for why each round of diplomacy fails:

Bad timing; artificial deadlines; insufficient preparation; no agreed terms of reference; inadequate confidence-building measures; coalition politics; or leaders devoid of courage. Many blame imbalanced mediation; poor coordination among separate negotiating channels; scant attention from the U.S. president; want of support from regional states; exclusion of key stakeholders; or clumsily choreographed public diplomacy [JB emphasis]. ...

Alas, what Thrall gets right is far outweighed by what Thrall gets wrong. Begin with the book’s central thesis: Only displays of force by one side can win (and have won) meaningful and lasting concessions from the other. The imbalance of power in this situation, in Thrall’s telling, is that Israel has it and the Palestinians don’t. Thus, The Only Language They Understand is a call to violence against Israel. ...