I'm not disappointed that the talks failed. No one who has a realistic grasp of the situation could have expected otherwise. But I did think that *when* the talks failed, our President and Secretary of State would finally come to grips with the fact that it is the Palestinians who are unwilling to accept peace, even when it is offered to them. Apparently even that was naive.
As I have noted earlier in this blog, as the negotiations went on, Abbas stated repeatedly that he would not make a single concession, seemingly oblivious to the definition of the word "negotiate." And it does appear that within the secrecy of the negotiations, he stuck by his public statements, rejecting Kerry's "framework" proposals and refusing to extend the negotiation schedule. Indeed, by all appearances, his only intent in entering into negotiations at all was to accept the proffered bribe of prisoner releases, without offering up one single thing in return. Israel, for its part, released over 70 murderers from jail without, in the end, getting anything at all in exchange except more bad PR. Those individuals are now free, treated as heroes, getting paid a stipend with international funds, and despite the lack of any progress at all, they are never going back. No settlement freeze was ever part of the agreement, least of all, not in Jerusalem. And yet Kerry is so blind, so married to his fanciful worldview, that he blames 700 apartments in the Jewish section of Jerusalem for the collapse of the talks. When all else fails, blame the Jews.
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