![U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane to leave Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca for a return to the United States April 4, 2014. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (MOROCCO - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3K0J3](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/04/RTR3K0J3.jpg/RTR3K0J3.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=wfaimeql)
Ambassador Alon Pinkas was Israel's consul general in New York, adviser to Shimon Peres and chief of staff to Ehud Barak and Shlomo Ben Ami. He is currently a fellow at the Israel Policy Forum.
![U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane to leave Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca for a return to the United States April 4, 2014. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (MOROCCO - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3K0J3](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/04/RTR3K0J3.jpg/RTR3K0J3.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=wfaimeql)
![Right-wing Israelis hold a banner depicting U.S Secretary of State John Kerry as they march during a rally in E1, an area in the West Bank near Jerusalem February 13, 2014. Thousands of right-wing Israelis took part in the rally on Thursday in E1, a geographically sensitive area which connects the two parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank outside Arab suburbs of East Jerusalem, calling for Israeli building in the area which Palestinians seek for a contiguous future state. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - T](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/03/RTX18RN3.jpg/RTX18RN3.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=tH_ocOvn)
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Alon Pinkas
![U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) speaks during his meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem April 9, 2013. REUTERS/Paul J. Richards/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYEIP](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/04/RTXYEIP.jpg/RTXYEIP.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=ndLXWF1P)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations in New York September 21, 2011. Netanyahu said Wednesday that direct negotiation was the only way to achieve a stable Middle East peace and the Palestinian effort to secure U.N. recognition of statehood ''will not succeed.'' REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) FOR BEST QUALITY IMAGE ALSO SEE: GM1E8BQ1LQZ01 - RTR2RMH8](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/03/bibi%20obama.jpg/bibi%20obama.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=uTrnpypp)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![U.S. President Barack Obama talks to the audience before he signs the Violence Against Women Act while at the Department of Interior in Washington, March 7, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EPDP](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/03/1-RTR3EPDP.jpg/1-RTR3EPDP.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=cUoL6VDw)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![U.S. President Barack Obama (C) meets with co-chairmen of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board former Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)(R) and former Senator David Boren (D-OK) and senior leadership of the intelligence community in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington October 28, 2009. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES POLITICS)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/RTXQ3NZ.jpg/RTXQ3NZ.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=5BA8Nt-h)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![A camel grazes on a hill in what is called the E1 area overlooking the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem December 1, 2012. An Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative government had authorised the construction of 3,000 housing units and ordered preliminary zoning and planning work for thousands of units in Jerusalem and settlement blocs including Maale Adumim and E1. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION ANIMALS)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/1-RTR3B38Q.jpg/1-RTR3B38Q.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=LEp3ssZW)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![Israeli soldiers, atop a tank, prepare to leave their Gaza border position at sun rise November 22, 2012. A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers took hold on Thursday after eight days of conflict, although deep mistrust on both sides cast doubt on how long the Egyptian-sponsored deal can last. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (ISRAEL - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/RTR3AQ08.jpg/RTR3AQ08.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=TfzRWJ2-)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman hold a joint news conference in Jerusalem October 25, 2012. Netanyahu said on Thursday he was merging his Likud party with that of his ultra-nationalist coalition ally Lieberman in a hard-right tack ahead of Israel's Jan. 22 election.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/RTR39KWI.jpg/RTR39KWI.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=yC6kMiZc)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (L) speaks during the final U.S. presidential debate in Boca Raton, Florida October 22, 2012. REUTERS/Rick Wilking (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS USA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/RomneyObamaDebate.jpg/RomneyObamaDebate.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=FIKqgQVJ)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas
![Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) is surrounded by security guards as he gestures during a visit to a kindergarten on the first day of school in Jerusalem August 27, 2012. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q3/1-RTR3765G.jpg/1-RTR3765G.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=UhsT9iEu)
![Alon Pinkas](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg/Alon%20Pinkas.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=Rzv87SD-)
Alon Pinkas