Kerry Merits Support, and a New Strategy

Who knows what we will learn Saturday about U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest attempt to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. As I write this on Friday morning, it appears that the Palestinian leadership has asked him for more clarifications on the Israeli position, to learn whether talks could resume on the basis of the 1967 borders that could be modified with appropriate land swaps. I am astounded that 46 years after the June 1967 war that saw Israel occupy the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, the two sides still cannot agree on the premise that a permanent peace agreement should be negotiated on the basis of ending the conflict and returning to the 1967 borders, with any agreed modifications. I have not given up hope that a negotiated peace can one day be achieved, but I pretty much have given up hope that it can be attained through negotiations mediated by the United States.