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The new documentary The Human Factor, a penetrating account of the rise and fall of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, arrives at an opportune moment. Human Rights Watch recently issued a 217-page document condemning Israeli apartheid, even as Jerusalem is paralyzed in political gridlock, with four elections in the past two years and a fifth on the horizon. Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, our eternal prime minister, faces multiple indictments for corruption. The Palestinians, for their part, finally scheduled an election to replace Yasir Arafat’s elderly, feckless successor Abu Mazen, who cancelled the ballot when it looked like Hamas, the militant rival of the reigning PLO, would win.

How has this sorry situation come about? The answer will not be found in any one book or movie, but this fine and sensitive Israeli film comes close. Its director is Dror Moreh, whose superb documentary The Gatekeepers was based on candid, ruef…