Even before Binyamin Netanyahu's new government was sworn in, skeptics and pundits alike warned that he would both isolate Israel internationally and refuse to engage in good faith negotiations with either the Palestinians or the country's other neighbors. The "real aim of Israel's recently elected government is against peace" and the composition of Netanyahu's cabinet is a "clear, unsurprising message to us," Syrian President Bashar Assad declared at an Arab League summit in Qatar.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addresses the Knesset, Tuesday evening. Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

Along the same lines, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that "the Palestinians must tell the world that Netanyahu does not believe in peace,...