0 for 2

And, of course, underlying the Quartet failure is the larger failure in handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Obama years are the first time in decades that there have been no negotiations at all, and the first time the United States has managed to make both the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership equally unhappy and equally nervous about U.S. policy. This is even handedness, in a way, but not the kind that wins many prizes—or leads to peace.

The Obama administration had two goals in the Middle East: to warm up America’s image and popularity after the ice age they believed Bush had represented, and to achieve progress in the “peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians. Thirty months in, they are 0 for 2.