“A lot of people tell me, really great people tell me, that it’s impossible … I have reason to believe I can do it.” So boasted Donald Trump about nothing less than the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict as he prepared to take office late last year.
The language is blunt, but the pattern is familiar. A new US administration, and yet another bout of diplomacy in the West Asia underpinned by personal ambition and unrealistic assessments.
The Israel-Palestine issue is the graveyard of US peacemaking. Littered with previous political initiatives, resolutions, maps, and plans, the “peace process” is