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Quartet's latest edition of Israel-Palestine report offers nothing new

The Quartet report on the obstacles before the two-state solution is a compilation of old findings, and it is easy for Israel's prime minister to dismiss its recycled condemnations.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rome, Italy, June 27, 2016.     REUTERS/Giuseppe Lami/Pool - RTX2IEZ0
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Thousands of words have been written in recent months about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to soften the report compiled by the Middle East Quartet on the situation in the Israeli-occupied territories. On June 26, a few days before the report’s publication, Netanyahu flew to Rome to try to convince US Secretary of State John Kerry to limit its fallout.

Associates of the prime minister whispered to reporters that were it not for the intense Israeli diplomatic efforts, Israel would have emerged from the report badly scarred. Perhaps. Nonetheless, the report bearing the signatures of top American, Russian, European Union and UN diplomats is not judged by its content or its style. The Quartet document will be evaluated according to the length and sharpness of the fangs the members sink into the two sides, especially the stronger of the two. The pain may force the two nations to treat the dangerous paralysis they have entered and its mounting death toll.

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