RAD, Israel
In the Middle East, it is no longer a war between Israel and Palestine. Since the cease-fire began more than seven weeks ago, public opinion surveys both in Israel and Palestine consistently show that a clear majority on both sides endorses the cease-fire, supports the road map to peace and favors the idea of a two-state solution, Israel next to Palestine.

Yes, everybody is unhappy about those solutions, everybody is full of suspicions and mistrust, everybody who says "yes" says so with clenched teeth. Nevertheless, some 70 percent of the people on both sides are ready for peace.

The enemies of peace are the fanatics on both sides: those who reject any compromise, those who claim that the other side has the right only to die or to disappear. How can it be that these fanatic Arabs and extremist Jews manage to block the road for peace and to push us all again and again into the infernal cycle of violence and vengeance?

The answer is simple: the leaders on both sides are cowards. Both Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, realize that there can be no progress before the extremists are contained and overruled. Yet each of these leaders wants the other to launch an internal civil war while he just sits and watches. Each of these leaders wants the internal battle to take place inside the other's family.

This is not going to work. If the Israelis and Palestinians have to negotiate under fire, let them do so — but it will have to be under fire from both sides. If we have to break the back of the enemies of peace, it will have to be done simultaneously on both sides.

Simultaneity is the key word. Palestine has to disarm the rejectionists' terror organizations at the same time Israel removes — by force if necessary — all the unauthorized settlements. Everybody knows it, but where is the courage of the leaders?

Amos Oz is author, most recently, of "The Same Sea."