Commentary Magazine..
23 July '13..
Even most of his sternest critics are giving John Kerry credit for good intentions in his efforts to reconvene Middle East peace talks. The prospects for success are minimal and the consequences of almost certain failure are awful to contemplate. But few would deny that Kerry means well. But there is one aspect to the American participation in what is likely to be yet another in a long list of failures that cannot be spun as a worthwhile risk taken in the name of the cause of peace. Along with other absurd Palestinian demands that Israel concede the substance of the talks prior to the beginning of negotiations is one particular condition that Kerry should never have been a party to: the release of terrorist murderers.
In order to avoid the blame for the failure of Kerry’s quest, Israel has been reportedly forced to agree to the release of 82 terrorists imprisoned since before the 1993 Oslo Accords as part of a package of concessions aimed at enticing the Palestinian Authority to rejoin the talks they’ve been boycotting for the last four and a half years. According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli Cabinet is scheduled to vote on the release prior to the start of the event Kerry has stage-managed. Among those to be released are believed to be a large number convicted of cold-blooded murders of Israeli men, women, and children. Even if you concede Kerry’s good intentions, this outrage is not something that should be done in the name of the people of the United States even if the supposed object is the achievement of peace. That the release of unrepentant murderers should be the result of U.S. policy is not merely painful for Israelis—especially the families of the victims—it is a disgrace. That this is being done to further a process that even officials of the PA agree is nothing more than a ruse rather than a genuine pursuit of peace is doubly disgraceful.
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