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Chill Out, John Kerry

(New Republic) Aaron David Miller - A recently minted American secretary of state has already called both the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president to discuss the importance of trying to resume the peace process and to express America's commitment to Arab-Israeli peace. John Kerry is already planning his first Middle East junket. Having watched and played a role in this long movie for many years, I understand the temptation and the importance of America getting involved in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. The last thing we need (or Kerry needs) is another abortive effort to get talks going. The inconvenient truth is that the gaps on the two least contentious issues (borders and security) are large; the divide on the identity issues (Jerusalem and refugees) are yawning. What's required now are separate discussions conducted by the U.S. - low key and quiet - not noisy enterprises generated by secretarial trips and visits to the White House. The last thing you should do at the beginning of a negotiation is to demonstrate more urgency than the locals themselves. Moreover, Kerry should not raise expectations now. He'll just end up spending the next few years walking them back. The writer, a vice president and distinguished scholar at the Wilson Center, served as an adviser on the Middle East during both Republican and Democratic administrations.
2013-02-08 00:00:00
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