There is no room for peace in the Middle East in the near future, said Israeli journalist Tom Segev, a Boston University alumnus, on the 40th anniversary of Israel’s Six-Day War at the School of Management last night.

The repercussions of the 1967 war contribute to Israel’s unrest, and there has been little resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts since then, Segev said in front of about 40 attendees at “1967 — Israel’s Longest Year,” hosted by the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies.

“I think that this is a conflict that cannot be solved at this time, but it can be managed in a better way, in a more rational way. . . . There are lots of things we can do to make life more livable,” said Segev, a weekly columnist on Middle Eastern conflicts for Haaretz, an English-Hebrew Israeli daily newspaper, before his lecture.

“The difference between my generation and today’s generation is that my generation used to believe in peace,” the 1975 BU graduate continued, adding modern policymakers aim to contain the conflict more than find a peaceful solution.

The Six-Day War occurred in 1967 when Israel launched a pre-emptive war against Egypt, which Israel believed was preparing its own attack. Jordan and Syria joined Egypt against Israel, which acquired land and expanded its territory to include the West Bank as one of the war’s outcomes.

Although the West Bank takeover improved psychological and emotional attitudes among Israeli people who were suffering from a national depression, Israel gained practically nothing from acquiring the area, Segev said.

The West Bank takeover immersed Israel in a conflict that does not have a clear solution, Segev said, and it is virtually impossible for Israelis to give back the land it took, especially in East Jerusalem, because the country’s people have emotional connections to sites like the Western Wall.

Israelis and Palestinians would have had cross-border tension and violence even without the Six-Day War, said Steven Katz, director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student Michal Biletzki said Segev did not adequately address Palestinians’ desires, but she agreed with Segev that peace is not possible now.

“There’s more pessimistic days and less pessimistic days,” she said. “On less pessimistic days, I think it’s possible, but it’s going to take forever. . . . It’s going to take generations to get over the trauma we all share.”