Why did the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon bother to come to the region? What did he expect to achieve upon meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan? Those who tuned in to the press conference Netanyahu and Ban held on Tuesday heard the U.N. chief speak with compassion over the recent terrorist attacks. But he was just going through the motions, and even as he took the podium, he could not hide his criticism of the Jewish state. He will likely step up his criticism of Israel when he arrives at his next stops, Ramallah and Amman and possibly other cities. What he couldn't do on Israeli soil because of his diplomatic manners, he will be able to do on the rest of his itinerary. Of course, we can go back to square one and try to talk about preconditions for renewing the Israeli-Palestinian talks once things calm down. But by doing so, Israel and the Palestinians would be reverting to the pointless debate over who is to blame for the stalemated peace process, and Netanyahu and Abbas will have once again generated criticism for their refusal to jump-start negotiations. (Perhaps this is what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Netanyahu will discuss in Germany this week.) While restarting talks should be a prime focus, what is more urgent is a pinpointed, limited effort to have the parties re-engage so as to end the current spate of violence. Does Israel have anything left to offer? It seems that even the pretext for this recent wave of attacks -- the false claim, propagated by the Islamic Movement, that Israel was trying to change the status quo on the Temple Mount -- will have been debunked if Ban were to visit the Holy Basin and get a first-hand look at the site. Israel is under attack on multiple fronts -- along the Gaza Strip border fence, in bus stations, and in various stabbing venues. On a tactical and practical level, at least in the immediate term, Israel has nothing to offer in exchange for stopping terrorism. But there is something new this time: it seems that Hamas is ready for some sort of Modus Vivendi, whereas Abbas is dithering and may not be willing to deliver on any such arrangement. It is also unclear whether he would like to see such a deal take shape, considering his ever-increasing incitement and praise of terrorists. In light of this situation, there is the dangerous possibility that even as Netanyahu continues to look for a cease-fire in Germany and even as Ban shows up in various capitals in the region, the real calm will have to wait for the violence to play out. This escalation has been imposed by the Palestinians on the State of Israel and the truth is that all those terrorists don't really want to be shahids (martyrs). Only if the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Police, the Shin Bet security agency and alert citizens manage to target the attackers (while upholding moral standards so as not to rile up the international community) would Israel be able to bring an end to this current escalation. Shall the sword devour for ever? No. But it will this time around.
