Editorial: Secretary Kerry’s Quest

There is a sense of fatalism in Washington about Secretary of State John Kerry's quest to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Many experts have concluded that the conditions for peace don't exist and are unlikely to exist anytime soon. So far, White House officials have not begrudged Mr. Kerry's investment of time and energy in the initiative, but there is little expectation that President Obama, bogged down with so many other priorities, will get very involved unless real progress emerges.

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Still, Mr. Kerry keeps doggedly plowing forward. Despite the skeptics, this issue is of such importance that he is right to stay focused on it, at least until it becomes clear that neither side is willing to seriously engage. And while his trip to the region last week — his fifth — produced no breakthrough, he said he had made progress and would return again soon.

On Thursday, he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, then drove to Amman to confer with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Friday. He later flew by helicopter back to Jerusalem for another meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, then one with President Shimon Peres of Israel. On Saturday and Sunday, he shuttled between the leaders again.

Whether there is any substantive narrowing of differences between the two sides is unknown. Mr. Kerry's determination to maintain secrecy is frustrating to anyone following his mission but also tactical, since unveiling details prematurely is more likely to back Israelis and Palestinians into opposite corners. The Jerusalem Post reported on Friday that Mr. Kerry proposed a series of meetings between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas. The newspaper said Mr. Netanyahu accepted the plan and Mr. Abbas was being pressured to do the same.

The public signals from both sides have been confusing. There is division in Israel's conservative government, where hard-liners have tried to undermine Mr. Kerry's initiative by advocating more West Bank settlements, which are a death knell for any Palestinian state, while moderates have endorsed a two-state solution. The Israeli news site Haaretz.com reported that Mr. Netanyahu has "shifted" and is now serious about the peace process and a two-state solution. One can only hope that is true.

It does not help that the Palestinians are more disorganized than ever since their highly competent prime minister, Salam Fayyad, was ousted and replaced by someone who resigned a few weeks later. Mr. Abbas has insisted that Israel halt all settlement building before negotiations could resume and reportedly also wanted some Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails. Israel's government has not initiated new settlements since it was formed in March; even so, it has moved forward on 69 previously approved apartments in East Jerusalem.

There have been no direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks since 2010. Mr. Kerry has made clear he wants to make headway on negotiations well before September, when the United Nations General Assembly will once again debate the Middle East. If that does not happen, there may come a point when Mr. Kerry and President Obama will have to decide whether it continues to make sense to invest this level of energy in this project indefinitely without a commensurate commitment by Israel and the Palestinians.

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