IntroductionFor many centuries, Jewish and Arab societies engaged in one of the most complicated conflicts and longest known to humanity, the makings of an extremely difficult peace process. . Unfortunately for all the world's peacemakers, the Arab-Israeli conflict, particularly the war between Israel and the Palestinian territories, is rooted in much more than ethnic tensions. Instead of focusing attention on the top officials of the Israeli government and Hamas, attention should be diverted to the more suspicious and subtle realist theory of international relations, which has imposed more problems than solutions. Throughout this article, I seek to explore the use of realism theory to explain and account for the Arab-Israeli conflict. Specifically, how has realism theory played a key role in Israeli-Palestinian relations, and will it impact future diplomatic efforts? The views and positions of various nations, religious organizations and geopolitical alliances will be examined in an effort to better understand the past, present and future of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Contemporary realism theory will also be examined with the aim of giving international relations theory broader parameters and new boundaries. It is not surprising that the global community has had a significant impact on the region, but the next step is to connect this impact to international relations theory. This review of realism theory is based on the evidence already presented by the global community. First, ethnic tensions escalating into conflicts are nothing new and past conflicts are common in history textbooks. However, Israel and Palestine cannot be simply compared to the Hutus and Tuts...... middle of paper ...... The Middle East as a subordinate international system. World Politics, 10, pp 408-429. • Jack Donnelly, “The Ethics of Realism”, in Christian Reus-Smit, Duncan Snidal (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of International Relations, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 150.• Jonathan Fox and Shmuel Sandler. Introducing religion into international relations. (June 2004) Palgrave Macmillan. March 22, 2014• Adrian Pabst (2012). The secularism of post-secularism: religion, realism and the revival of grand theory in IR. Review of International Studies, 38, pp 995-1017.• Schmidt, BC (2007). Realism and facets of power in international relations. In F. Berenskoetter & M. J. D. Williams (Eds.), Power in World Politics (pp. 43-63). London: Routledge. • Jerome Slater. “Silence the alarm on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” International Security 32, no. 2 (Autumn 2007): 84-120.