MEET THE PANEL Name: Jonathan Levy Age: 58 Lives: Lower Galilee, Israel Works: Retired schoolteacher

Everybody wants peace - who doesn't? But this conference was just to please the foreign politicians and the media.

I think all three leaders are acting in good faith, but given the differences in what they need to produce to satisfy their peoples, their failure is unavoidable.

Q: Do you believe that Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas are able to make the sort of compromises Bush has referred to?

A: It is all "blah-blah" for the media. Who says the problem is the 1967 borders anyway? The real problem started in 1948, the war that caused most of the Palestinian refugees to leave their homes.

Now they have nowhere to go back to, but they won't accept anything else. A true compromise would have them settling in the West Bank getting aid to build their new lives as a productive people. But they won't accept that.

Neither Jews nor Muslims will ever compromise about the holy sites in Jerusalem, either. Religion and politics don't mix together very well, do they?

Q: How likely is it do you think that the Palestinians and the Israelis can agree on a final deal by the end of 2008?

A: Having lived in this country for more than 40 years, I can only say that the chances of an agreement by 2008 are like those of a snowball in hell.

Do you think a strong Palestinian leader will arise to disarm the Palestinian terrorists - or freedom fighters, as they claim to be? I don't think so.

Just listen to what Hamas and the even more radical groups are saying!

Even if the Palestinians do put on a good show then maybe, just maybe, Olmert might have a chance at convincing the average Israeli that there is hope for a change.

They need to stop shooting rockets at Israeli cities, the Palestinian police must arrest suicide bombers and the radicals in the Palestinian camps in other countries must change their tune.

Given the violent nature of Palestinian politics, however, there's not a very good chance of this ever happening.

MIDEAST CONFERENCE VIEWS Jonathan, Israel Faysal, Syria Nadim, Jordan Gilad, Israel Abdullah, Gaza

Q: What are the consequences for Israel and the Palestinians if this becomes another failed attempt at a final settlement?

A: The consequences are more of the same. Life in this region will become more deadly and we, in Israel, will continue to try to live as normal a life as possible. The Palestinians will also continue to suffer until they can change their way of thinking.

People all over the world think that the conflict in the Middle East is something like an argument between Great Britain and Iceland over fishing rights in the North Sea.

A simple compromise and the matter is finished. Well, that isn't the case.

We have two peoples here with a conflicting sense of history whose very existence depends on the preservation of their national identity.

Is there any doubt why there is conflict in this region?