Why Kerry has to keep visiting

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has predictably gone on the offensive for his meeting with the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, during the current round of attempts to find a peace framework between Israel and the Palestinians of the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

In his opening statement Netanyahu said he did not believe the Palestinians were taking the peace process seriously, pointing to the welcome given by President Mahmoud Abbas to the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

The Israeli leader referred to the group as “terrorists”; however it is unlikely he would have authorised the release of anyone regarded as a serious terrorist threat to the State. Israeli security forces regularly trawl up rock-throwing demonstrators useful for later release as goodwill gestures during a high-profile visit such as Kerry’s

Netanyahu has also brought a temporary halt to the approval of new settlement housing on the West Bank, but again this is window dressing designed to put Israel in the best possible light during this brief period of world attention. The building of settlements has become an increasingly thorny issue as Palestinians see more and more of their already tiny State being whittled away.

Despite Kerry’s dogged optimism – “the time is soon arriving where leaders are going to have to make difficult decisions…but it is not mission impossible,” he said – the prospects for a lasting settlement remain as elusive as ever.

I believe Netanyahu would genuinely like to go into serious negotiations, even to the point where territorial concessions could be made over the settlements. However, the reality of Israeli politics means that the views of religious extremists and nationalists have to be taken into account.

The Palestinian side is a mess. Abbas’ claim to legitimacy is under severe question as constitutionally elections should have been held in 2009. His Fatah Party remains in deadlock with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Despite several attempts elections still seem a long way off.

The determination of the US Administration to find a solution cannot be in doubt. Kerry has made 10 visits to the area in less than a year, but even this effort by the world’s major power the talk is still about a “framework” to set “guidelines” for “negotiations”. In other words talks about talks about talks.

The US has to persist. Its influence and interest effectively blocks the involvement of other more radical Middle Eastern elements from interfering in the Israeli-Palestinian equation while keeping Israel’s finger off its nuclear trigger. 

It would be a dangerous day for the world should any Washington Administration decide to walk away from this problem, however intractable it seems.