Three cheers...

For John Kerry, US Secretary of State, whose persistence and persuasiveness have succeeded where Hilary Clinton and others failed in bringing the Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table after more than two years of stand-off. The chances of agreement may still be small but at least the issues can be opened up and the respective merits of the positions of the two sides seen clearly. Kerry has brought off this progress while handling also the Egyptian and Syrian crises.