Hybrid

Kerry to meet Abbas Wednesday in Paris | The Times of Israel

Yet another meeting but not the one I’m sure we’ve all been waiting for, that with Mr. Kerry and his soon-to-be-revealed framework about forging the way ahead. Will he really be able to unleash the required driving force this time, the one that takes current peace talks into the next exciting chapter of their ever-onward progress?

Well, maybe so, but, given the complex interplay of personalities and agendas presently wrestling with such a hydra-headed monster, it’s very hard to see how any positive outcome can ever emerge from so diverse a collection of ambitions, hopes, concerns and downright hostilities.

The present state of play is rather reminiscent of some very short car journeys I’ve had the misfortune to encounter. Driver and passengers get in, seat belts are fastened and the sat-nav turned on. A route is entered, satellite lock acquired and then the vehicle’s engine is cranked up.

The engine turns over a few times but does not fire. This continues to be the case after several more attempts. Some jerky forward movement can still be managed but only by draining battery energy to the point of total exhaustion; the engine itself still refuses to start. And without that engine bursting into life, no one is going any place, a state of affairs all too common when replicated as Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

And that seems to be the stumbling block with every one of these arrangements; the starting phase alone simply cannot deliver the drive necessary to make sure all the principals arrive at their destination as intended and in the best manner possible. And this has happened so often that confidence in this type of conveyance has severely diminished as a direct result.

It could be that a hybrid engine is now required, one that has another system on board to cut-in whenever the main power-train encounters difficulties in operation or stops altogether.

Some engines can be made to run on petrol, diesel, battery, sunlight, pure grain alcohol or any combination thereof. Even a few thimblefuls of water have long been claimed as a true (and cheaper) alternative to every other type of propellant.

Then why not turn to a means of propulsion having these characteristics, especially if the octane used in peace negotiations has always seemed in need of a real boost when coping with the sometimes thankless task of getting X and Y from A to B?