Doomed to Failure?: The Politics and Intelligence of the Oslo Peace Process Ofira Seliktar The question of who "lost Oslo" has often generated a passionate ideological literature. This ground-breaking book is the first attempt to provide an in-depth, objective, and systematic study of the Oslo failure, examining how and why the much-vaunted Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed. In particular, Doomed to Failure addresses the issue of whether the New Middle East paradigm that informed the Israeli architects of Oslo was grounded in reality and backed by sound intelligence. In answering that question, the author analyzes the players on both sides of the Accords, pointing out the attitudes and actions that served to undermine peace and promote conflict. The author shows that the Islamist organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as their patron Iran considered Palestine to be a holy Muslim endowment and vehemently rejected the idea of a true peace with Israel. The author also analyzes the deep divisions in Israel between Oslo supporters and detractors that, at times, verged on a Kulturkampf and argues that after the dramatic increase in Islamist terrorism, which the dysfunctional Palestinian Authority of Yasser Arafat could not or would not suppress, support for Oslo had dwindled. The author notes that the same divisions affected Israeli government circles, and she calls into question the ability of Israeli intelligence to correctly assess the complex politics of the Palestinian Authority and its enigmatic head, Yasser Arafat.[…] Ofira Seliktar is professor of political science at Gratz College, Melrose Park PA.