Secretary of State John Kerry says that he made progress in creating conditions to restart peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but it is hard to gauge. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still insists on no preconditions for the talks, and he has assured his cabinet that any final agreement will be subject to a national referendum. The lack of preconditions displeases the Palestinian side, but it cuts both ways. The larger problem might be the insistence on a referendum, since it is hard to negotiate with a partner whose ultimate position is subject to a popular vote. It’s also hard to take Israel seriously when they greet discussions of new negotiations with more efforts to build in East Jerusalem. Nonetheless, it is good to see this:
Following Sunday morning’s meeting in Ramallah, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, reported progress but said that gaps remained.
‘‘I cannot say we have a breakthrough,’’ he said. ‘‘All I can say once again is no one benefits more from the success of Secretary Kerry than the Palestinians, and no one stands to lose more from its failure than Palestinians.’’
I interpret that as a vote of confidence that the administration is working in good faith, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.
