WarSclerotic

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hinted on Tuesday at a hearing before the Senate that Israel is responsible for the negotiations crisis (for failing to meet its obligations to release prisoners, for construction in the territories, and “poof, that was the moment”).

Kerry knows the Middle East is a sensitive place, and also placed some of the blame on the Palestinians (they applied to the United Nations contrary to their commitments). Thank goodness for some balance.

But during the Senate hearing Kerry forgot to blame himself too. After all, it was clear from the beginning that it would be a little difficult to solve a problem that has persisted for decades in the nine months he allotted to the negotiations. Only Kerry thought it was possible. Kerry, the believer.

American officials on Tuesday sought to play down the situation and told officials in Jerusalem that Kerry’s words were “not meant to place blame on one side or another.” The reason for the American placation is very clear.

Washington wants the talks to continue. Kerry himself told the Senate he intends to continue playing the role of mediator. This is not the time, from Washington’s perspective, for quarrels. Indeed, it is more than enough that two sides of the Israeli-Palestinian-American triangle are fighting. This is all the Americans need, that after nine months of talks, instead of conciliation between Jerusalem and Ramallah, all three sides will be wrangling (we are not far off from that).

Despite what Kerry said, which was unpleasant to Israeli ears, his commitment to the success of the diplomatic process and the time he has invested in solving the problem, regardless of the other unresolved conflicts in the world, should to be appreciated. Ukraine can wait.

Kerry’s goal of ending the conflict needs to be our goal as well. His problem, however, is how to go about it. From the beginning, he should never have set the bar so high. He should have added this, for the sake of fairness, at the Senate hearing. Perhaps he forgot.

There is no shame in admitting that under such conditions, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ persistent inflexibility, talking in and of itself is important, and if something eventually comes of it then all the better. Negotiations are always preferable to a renewal of violence.

Kerry’s “J’accuse” speech yesterday was far more moderate than French writer Emile Zola’s sentiments during the Alfred Dreyfus trial. Kerry knows the triangle he has formed needs to produce a deal. Exacerbating the turbulence will only make it a Bermuda Triangle, where there was a negotiation, and “poof,” it was over. Kerry’s own personal failure.