The Israeli regime, angry with the US for ignoring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated tirades against a nuclear agreement with Iran, has decided to punish the Americans, and once again it has done so through the Palestinians.

As last Sunday’s interim nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers hogged headlines and captured global audiences, the Israelis quietly approved 829 homes in exclusively Jewish colonies on the occupied West Bank. This comes just two weeks after US pressure convinced Israel to cancel plans to initiate the biggest ever colony-building project.

Once again, the Israelis have slapped America on the face, as it tries to revive the peace process, and once again the Americans have responded with silence.

Israel’s continuous building of colonies has led the Palestinian team negotiating with the Israelis to resign, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is yet to accept their resignation, clinging to the last string of hope that the occupier will eventually concede.

It is perhaps time for the Palestinians, and the Arab world as a whole, to let go of this hope and send a strong message to the US and the Israelis that their offer for peace will not remain on the table forever. No negotiation can succeed if ultimatums are not put forward. The Arab states have time and again made open-ended peace offers and the Palestinians have reluctantly been dragged back to the negotiating table under intense pressure to engage in talks that prove to be futile.

The Israeli regime has no desire for peace and the continuation of the status quo has become its preferred solution. Arab states should realise this, withdraw peace offers and work to make the occupation costly for the Israelis and their backers.

Relations between the US and some Arab states are possibly at their lowest in many years. The US should be wary that a continuation of rampant Israeli violations, and American silence in response, will further damage relations. Rein them in before it is too late.