Why, it is often asked, is the Arab-Israel conflict so intractable? Part of the reason is that the various protagonists live each in a mental framework that ignores fundamental facts. Mostly these facts have been reported in the public media. But their significance is overlooked because it lies outside the virtual realities that those protagonists have created for themselves over long years. Thus it is that the Hamas victory in Gaza has left the "international community" flummoxed. Once again, the inevitable arrived to everyone's surprise. For weeks, the area had been awash in a stream of visiting foreign ministers. Each...