The lesson of Aqaba.

If the Aqaba Summit accomplished anything, it demonstrated the inadequacy of US policy toward Israel/Palestine. The Summit, instigated by the US and hosted by Jordan, brought together leaders from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt, and the US, with the goal of reducing Israeli/Palestinian tensions in advance of and during Ramadan and Passover. By failing to address underlying systemic problems, the Summit was futile.

The US proposed, and the parties apparently accepted, a number of worn-out half-measures intended to temporarily reduce tensions. Israel agreed to: a short-term freeze on 'discussing' new settlements or demolishing Palestinian homes; a reduction in raids into Palestinian communities; respecting the 'status quo' in Jerusalem; and releasing more of the tax monies they collect for the Palestinians (but have been illegally withholding).

The PA agreed to: refrain temporarily from taking their case to the United Nations; improving security cooperation with Israel; and using the additional tax revenues to hire and train (with US support) new security forces to better control the armed resistance groups springing up in the territories. Developments unfolding while the Summit's participants were meeting clearly demonstrated that these agreements were both inadequate and divorced from reality.

Palestinians were still reeling from the recent Israeli operation in Nablus that turned into a massacre-killing 11 and injuring over 100 Palestinians. While the Summit was concluding, Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli settlers who were driving through their village, Hawara. Within a few hours, hundreds of extremist Israeli settlers descended on Hawara, attacking and injuring hundreds of Palestinian residents and torching hundreds of homes and cars. With the installation of the new Netanyahu-led government, undercover raids and acts of settler violence are occurring with greater frequency and impunity. While Israel claims that massive Israeli raids in the heart of heavily populated Palestinian communities are to arrest known terrorists, many of the 75 Palestinians killed and hundreds wounded this year have been innocents-caught in the gunfire or armed Palestinians fighting off the Israeli invaders.

The two Israeli cabinet ministers in charge of the territories are themselves extremists who have often incited other settlers to violence. After the...