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Why the Peace Talks Failed
(JTA) Ron Kampeas - In an interview with Nahum Barnea, a veteran diplomatic affairs writer for the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, an anonymous member of the U.S. negotiating team [widely believed to be Martin Indyk, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel who headed Kerry's negotiating team] said Israel's settlement activity was a principal cause of the breakdown in talks last month. But Aaron David Miller, a U.S. Middle East peace negotiator under Democratic and Republican presidents, said blaming Israel would be counterproductive. "The notion that the peace process collapsed because of settlement activity is a willful distortion of reality," he said. "That is not why Kerry's 9-10 month effort collapsed....The maximum that Netanyahu can offer on all core issues doesn't come close to the minimum that anyone on the Palestinian side can accept. This maximum-minimum problem is in essence the fundamental cause and has been for years. We can whine and complain about it, but you need to acknowledge it." Einat Wilf, a former Knesset member, said the Americans were recognizing the reality that they could not force the process. "If the Israelis and Palestinians are not reaching an agreement, it is not because they need an enthusiastic mediator," said Wilf. "They are not incapable children. If they are not making decisions, it is because they are assessing their alternatives."