Steeped in mistrust, each fearful of the other

A GULF of mistrust separates Israelis and Palestinians, who each feel their existence is at stake in a bitter struggle over borders, security, refugees and Jerusalem.

Political rifts among Palestinians, and the constraints of US domestic politics, where support for Israel is strong, further complicate efforts to bridge the gaps.

The divisions are rooted in a brutal history. The United Nations partitioned Palestine in 1947, but Arab states rejected that and declared war on the new state of Israel, which then captured more territory than it had been allotted under the UN plan and dispossessed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Two decades after Israel seized the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 war, the Palestine Liberation Organisation recognised Israel and tempered its territorial demands.