No Deal

Aaron David Miller has written for the Los Angeles Times an impressive critique of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Here is his core conclusion:

The maximum that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prepared to give on the core issues that drive the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can't be aligned, let alone reconciled, with the minimum that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is prepared to accept.

Let's at least be honest about why we can't achieve it. Neither Israel nor the Palestinians — nor Obama — is willing or able to pay the price of what it would cost.

Each side prefers the status quo to the best deal the other side is willing to let them have. It is high time the U.S. recognized reality in the region, they don't need our help to continue "as is."