This week, a former senior official in Israel’s security establishment described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s priorities to me: “Iran, Iran, Iran and only after that Syria and Egypt, and finally, the Palestinians.” He brought his palm down almost to the floor to stress to me how low the Palestinian issue really was on Netanyahu’s list of priorities.

Netanyahu’s obsession with the Iranian issue doesn’t need any visual aids. Israelis have been hearing “Iran, Iran, Iran” for years. They have also been hearing from foreign publications that retired senior members of the security establishment (former Mossad head Meir Dagan, former Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin and former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi) begged to prevent an Israeli attack on the Bushehr nuclear reactor.

Netanyahu’s speech before the UN General Assembly Oct. 1 confirmed how remarkably precise this description of Netanyahu’s priorities vis-à-vis the Palestinians really is.

Since talks between the Israelis and Palestinians were renewed in August, following a campaign by US Secretary of State John Kerry to exert pressure on both parties, stack upon stack of assessments have been written. As enormous doubts plague everyone, the question was and remains: Are the talks serious? Are the Israelis and Palestinians really willing and able to reach an agreement, or is it all an act forced upon the participants?