Kerry may address Israeli public on peace deal

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.