Israel and Palestine Both Have Plans; Kerry's Visit Was in Vain

The re-initiation of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has not worked out well. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who paid a visit to the Middle East for the fifth time after he took office, merely wasted his breath and failed to convince either party to return to the negotiation table after three meetings with both leaders. He returned with no accomplishments. Prospects for peace between Israel and Palestine seem bleaker now.

In September 2010, Israel refused to freeze the Jewish settlement program, irritating Palestine. This resulted in the abortion of talks, which had only just been resumed. Since then, both sides have resorted to extremes: Israelis are initiating massive construction projects and expanding settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which the Palestinians deem future territories of Palestine. Palestine, on the other hand, will unilaterally seek statehood and was recognized as one by the United Nations late last year. U.S. President Obama intended to leave behind a good name by pushing forward the course to peace. Ironically, rather than having improved, the Israeli-Palestinian relationship has inched backward. Similarly with the situation in the Middle East: The questions of military intervention in Syria, whether or not to prohibit Iran from owning nuclear weapons and how to react to the Egyptian political crisis are all giving Obama a headache. Kerry’s visit was regarded as the last straw in improving the state of the peace talks.

Although he canceled his trip to Abu Dhabi and postponed his visit to Brunei for the Asian Forum, Kerry ended up commuting between Jerusalem and Ramallah in order to lobby Prime Minister Netanyahu and president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Kerry could not break the three-year deadlock. His so-called “real progress” and “direct talks” are shallow and useless, like grasping at falling sand — rhetoric for the sake of not losing face.

Netanyahu is bent on the expansion of settlements. In fact, right before Kerry’s visit, Israel launched a new plan that includes building 1,000 houses in East Jerusalem and introducing a generous discount on the properties, in order to appear more attractive to people suffering from soaring real estate prices.

Palestine demands that the Israelis stop building houses, which will be the prerequisite for restarting peace talks. Israel’s latest actions are undoubtedly provocative. What’s more, all three conditions Netanyahu promised Abbas have not come close to being satisfied: the release of Palestinian prisoners that have been jailed for long periods of time, the revocation of barricades along the West Bank, and acceptance and acknowledgement of the borders set in place after the war of 1967. The re-initiation of peace talks seems a remote reality; the confrontations seem to have been upgraded, adding to the chaos in the Middle East.