Amb. Indyk’s Speech

Last week Martin Indyk, former ambassador to Israel and now the top negotiator and adviser to Secretary of State Kerry in the Israeli-Palestinian talks, spoke to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His remarks can be found here.

In my view, his account leaned heavily and unfairly toward blaming Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu for the collapse of talks. Absent entirely was any consideration of the unfortunate American role --- mishandling these negotiations for five years now. Indyk continued the near obsession of the administration with the issue of construction in settlements, and he provided some numbers that seem to me to misstate quite strikingly the facts on the ground.

My own view of Amb. Indyk’s speech was published at the web site of The Weekly Standard, and can be found here.