Goldberg on Clinton at State

The Atlantic Monthly's Jeffrey Goldberg, seemingly excited about the prospect of Hillary Clinton at Foggy Bottom, praises Clinton's "acute understanding" of what makes Middle East peace negotiations work. Apparently that "understanding" is rooted in this statement:

You do not get people into a process or to the table to make any kind of tough decisions, including compromises, unless the other side knows that your commitment to Israel is unshakable.

To me that suggests precisely why negotiations to foster peace have failed. The U.S. is not an honest broker and doesn't pretend to be. Note that Clinton wasn't suggesting that this unshakable support was for the benefit of the Israelis who would have to make some tough choices and would need some security assurances before committing themselves to any deal. What Clinton was in fact suggesting was that the Arab world and the Palestinians in particular should know that the U.S. enters the process committed to backing the Israelis no matter what.

Now, that may be a reasonable position for the U.S. as general matter of policy, but it's a self-evidently counter-productive posture if you're attempting to mediate a dispute between two parties.