As the deadline approaches for Israel and the Palestinians to reach a final agreement, optimism that it will actually happen is fading in Moscow and in many other capitals, despite the energetic though unilateral efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry.

Most Russian analysts believe the parties are not ready to resolve the many complex matters so quickly. In addition to the difficulty of resolving the key issues themselves, one obstacle to reconciliation is the tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis over Israel's very recent demand, as a precondition, that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. I will not reiterate the Palestinian arguments against meeting this demand — they are already well known.

It is appropriate to note in this regard that in his last book, My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, Ari Shavit called this redefinition of the Israeli nation “a new Jewish Israeli narrative.” My Israeli colleagues have hinted to me recently that, despite his declarations that this narrative is unacceptable, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas nevertheless might be moving toward a recognition of the Jewish character of Israel.

In Russia, some experts fully share the Palestinians' concern that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would only enshrine in law discrimination against Palestinians as second-class citizens, and would take the issue of the return of refugees off the agenda, even in truncated form. Other experts believe that the UN has decided to create two states anyway — an Arab state and a Jewish state, because Israel is by definition a Jewish state, so the creation of an Arab state is long overdue.