Short Take: Sorry, Steve, this crisis may have the opposite result you hoped

The overblown non-crisis between the United States and Israel is, of course, settling down … with both sides recognizing that the problem with rifts between vital allies is that both suffer from them. Israel screwed up … and America almost made things worse by over-escalating. As it is, all sides are now heavily invested in ...

Baz Ratner-pool Getty Images
Baz Ratner-pool Getty Images
Baz Ratner-pool Getty Images

The overblown non-crisis between the United States and Israel is, of course, settling down … with both sides recognizing that the problem with rifts between vital allies is that both suffer from them. Israel screwed up … and America almost made things worse by over-escalating. As it is, all sides are now heavily invested in showing they can move things forward at the negotiating table and, I predict, will do just that. Slowly. Frustratingly. But if I had to bet, I’d suspect we’ll see more progress in this area in the next couple years than we have since the Clinton years.

David Rothkopf is visiting professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His latest book is The Great Questions of Tomorrow. He has been a longtime contributor to Foreign Policy and was CEO and editor of the FP Group from 2012 to May 2017. Twitter: @djrothkopf

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