For the first time in the run-up to the US presidential election primaries, one of the top democratic candidates, Bernie Sanders, has spoken up for the Palestinians and called Israel’s response to Palestinian violence and agitation as totally disproportionate.

Many in Europe have long felt this and Israel is losing its once solid support in the European Union (EU). In the US, however, the pro-Israeli lobby is all-powerful and no candidate, Democrat or Republican, has voiced support for the Palestinians as Bernie Sanders did in a speech in New York.

Even though he lost to Hillary Clinton in the New York primary, he nevertheless got more than 40 percent of the votes. As is well-known, New York has a strong Jewish constituency. Bernie Sanders is truly brave and being Jewish himself he felt more than anyone that he had a moral right to criticise Israel. He felt that the US must be more balanced and be a honest broker if it is to make any progress on the core issues affecting the Israelis and Palestinians.

Many had hoped that then-newly-elected President Barack Obama will be able to finally find a solution. Obama’s speech in Cairo soon after his election raised much hope in the Muslim world but the quick turn of events - the Arab Spring, the rise of Islamic State (IS), the Syrian civil war as well as the general instability in the Middle East and North Africa, the Iran nuclear episode as well as the intransigence of Israel and the Palestinians put paid to all these high expectations.

It is now left to the incoming US president to try to resolve the matter. Time is not on the side of the Palestinians and Israelis, and a peace deal needs to be urgently made. The Palestinians need to understand that their cause has now been overshadowed by other events in the Middle East.

In fact the Palestinian issue is now almost a forgotten one. The billions of dollars the Palestinians expect from the US and Europe when a peace deal is finally signed as compensation and assistance for nation building are also in jeopardy as the US and EU are no longer wealthy as they were.

Israel is slowly but surely losing support in Europe and worldwide due to its intransigence and should not take advantage of the Arab Spring that has weakened much of the Arab world . Bernie Sanders’ criticism opens the door to more of the same in the US in the future. As such a peace deal between the warring parties needs to be done sooner than later.