And this is why my longstanding thesis about the Arab-Israeli peace process still stands. Backchannels and secret negotiations are the only way to get breakthroughs. Public diplomacy isn’t going to get deals done, since the parties will get the kinds of concessions only in secret. Once the moves are made public, it only serves to harden the sides against compromise, and lets the extremists push the sides apart.

And right now, neither side has a leader who is willing to put their life on the line to make a deal happen.