A magazine article and a television interview provide insights into what Israel and any would-be peacemakers need to know about Hamas-Fatah and the United Nations. In the July 20 issue of The New Republic, Ben Birnbaum and Amir Tibon offer their take on “The Explosive, Inside Story of How John Kerry Built an Israel-Palestine Peace Plan -- and Watched It Crumble.” Their John Kerry is “convinced that the parties didn’t have much longer to craft a two-state solution,” observing at a House hearing in April 2013: “I think we have some period of time -- in one to one-and-a-half to two years -- or it’s over.”  Kerry is quoted as telling President Obama that Fatah-PLO head Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is “the best peace partner Israel could hope for.” The writers depict Kerry as open to Abbas’s insistence that talks be based on the 1967 borders. According to them, Kerry wanted Netanyahu to release 104 Palestinian...(Read Full Article)