“Secretary Kerry and I remain determined to work with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to pursue a two-state solution.” This is the pledge made by US President Barack Obama in an article being published July 8 in the Israeli daily Haaretz. 

In the lead article of the special supplement being issued by the newspaper on the occasion of the Israel Conference on Peace, convened by Haaretz in Tel Aviv on the morning of July 8 (in the interest of full disclosure, I serve as director-general of the conference), Obama leaves no doubt as to the essence of that “determination.” The president makes clear that he and Secretary of State John Kerry will get to work and contribute their fair share only when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas themselves show that “the political will exists to recommit to serious negotiations.”

“Neither I nor the United States will ever waver in our commitment to the security of Israel and the Israeli people,” Obama says, adding that “our support for peace will always remain a bedrock foundation of that commitment.” 

Indeed, good tidings for the people of Israel. But if the president is so committed to Israel’s security, and if his belief in peace is the basis for that commitment, why does he abandon the task of peacemaking? After all, according to his own testimony, it is the belief in peace that constitutes the basis of his commitment to the security of Israel's citizens.