The complete idiot’s guide to MidEast peace (part14)

Peace talks in crisis after latest PA-US meeting | The Times of Israel

Will it be that these peace talks are still able to continue on for a while longer, even if only in some desultory, half-hearted fashion? Or are they destined to fall apart very shortly with much acrimony, accusations of bad faith and a general feeling of what a great waste of time and effort it all was?

Worst-case scenario: Negotiations are terminated due to ‘irreconcilable differences,’ everyone packs their bags and goes off home in a huff, nothing is resolved, no ‘hard decisions’ are taken and ‘as things have been, so they remain.’

Then what happens?

On the face of it, nothing happens. No fall-back position has been prepared, no contingency plans drawn up. It’s been a ‘do-or-die’ approach all along and there is no second string to anyone’s bow. If these talks just fade away into the background, then that’s it. Difficult as it was to get them going in the first place, any fresh attempt at their reanimation becomes even more problematic. And abject failure in such discussions has never been the best of platforms from which to launch a new peace initiative.

So, what to do?

An arrangement must be found that provides defence in depth, the ability to hold the line while reinforcements are gathered for another push against the ‘enemy.’ And another. And yet another until that ‘enemy’ is defeated and victory is finally assured.

There are time when ‘it’s not what you do that counts, it’s the way that you do it.’ This can make all the difference in the world. And to the world.

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