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Unilateral steps may pave way for lasting Israel-Palestine peace

An agreement by both Israel and the Palestinians to make concessions unique to their side may make it easier to arrive at a final deal.

Palestinian protesters confront an Israeli soldier during clashes at a demonstration against the closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Hebron February 21, 2014. Hundreds of protesters, including foreign activists, gathered on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of the closure of the street by the Israeli army in 1994 after Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler, shot dead 29 Palestinians inside Hebron's Al Ibrahimi Mosque. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNRE
Palestinian protesters confront an Israeli soldier during clashes at a demonstration against the closure of Shuhada Street in Hebron, Feb. 21, 2014. — REUTERS/Ammar Awad

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team seem to have a very clear idea of what they want in the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. But the general public seems lost trying to figure out exactly what he is after.

A close and thorough analysis of publicly available information, plus knowledge of the area and the political maneuverability of the main players, leads to a deceptively simple conclusion. Kerry and peace envoy Martin Indyk are clearly not after an agreement that will end the conflict once and for all. This was the goal demanded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak during the Clinton-led Camp David II effort, which ended in failure.

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