By Farah Stockman

They said it couldn't be done. But he did it. Monday night, John Kerry got Palestinian and Israeli negotiators to agree to eat a meal together for the first time in years. They say talks can't make peace. But who knows without trying? One thing we know for sure is that peace doesn't make itself.

Deal With Resolving 1967 Before You Get to 1948

Let's set aside for a moment all the familiar reasons why renewed peace talks won't work.

Former Shin Bet chief calls on Netanyahu to "overcome fears"; fears Mideast conflict is taking a back seat in Israeli public interest.

By Yuval Diskin

July 10, 2013, Tel Aviv: Israel used to be a nation of political parties marked by hard-and-fast ideologies--but not so much today. Even the right's toxic combination of religious zealotry and hard-edged cynicism has more to do with a mindset than with a clear set of beliefs.

The life of a party these days barely lasts past an election cycle or past the successor to a charismatic leader. Parties that appear to be the next big thing (like the centrist Kadima a short time ago) disappear before the next cycle. It is a profound shift: although the new parties are ostensibly created around an idea, in fact they are dependent for their voter base upon often a sole personality.

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