US Secretary of State John Kerry is reaching the last stretch of the first round (out of 12 at least) of the hopeless boxing match he is waging against the bitter fate in the Middle East. Kerry's paper will probably be called Terms of Reference, which is not easily translatable into Hebrew. Several alternative and loose translations are possible — such as "principles of reference," "an agreed-upon basis for discussion" or "negotiation guidelines" — and with them just as many variations.

Each of the sides will read into this document what they will, while ignoring what they prefer not to see. The Israelis and the Palestinians will publish their respective reservations but will be asked to approve the extension of the negotiations for an additional defined period of time based on that paper. Said document will have the same status as the road map that was presented by President George W. Bush in 2002. This is the document that defines the basis for the negotiations between the parties; the negotiations themselves will be predicated according to it. It is on the basis of these principles that the parties should conduct the deliberations and haggling over the various issues at hand.

At the Davos summit last weekend on Jan. 24, Kerry met with a delegation of Israeli and Palestinian businessmen from the organization Bridging the Impasse. It consists of a large number of prominent businessmen from Israel and the Palestinian Authority who have rallied in support of the peace process. A group among them has recently called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet the Palestinians halfway and say "yes" to Kerry's proposal. The meeting with the US secretary of state saw the participation of 26 businessmen, 13 from each side. The prominent figures among the Palestinians were billionaire Munib al-Masri and businessmen Zahi Khouri and Samir Hulileh. Representing the Israeli side were Israel's high-tech visionary Yossi Vardi, banker Shlomo Nehama and businessmen Morris Kahn, Yadin Kaufmann, Shmuel Meitar, Moshe Lichtman and Shlomi Fogel. The latter is worth focusing on. Fogel is one of Netanyahu's closest associates and is said to be part of Bibi's inner circle. His presence and involvement in that group and at such a meeting is quite telling.

Those businessmen saw Kerry at his best. One of the participants told me this week: "He was determined, compelling and very motivated. He told us it was final and that he was putting the document on the table within a 'matter of weeks.' He explained to us that we must convince the Israeli public; that it is the right thing to do for Israel and that we need to tell Israelis failure to make a decision would lead to far worse consequences than making a decision."