At a time like this, you suspect that the Obami are incapable or unwilling to learn from past errors:

Senior White House officials told a group of Jewish lawmakers Wednesday morning that the Obama administration is pushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the now-lapsed settlement building moratorium for 60 days as one way to allow Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to continue, said Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) in an exclusive interview with The Cable. …

If Netanyahu accepts the deal, which he has shown no public signs of doing, negotiations begun by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sept. 1 would likely proceed past the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 2. It is still unclear what exactly would be different on the Israeli or Palestinian sides after the 60 day period expired that would allow the process to move forward from there.

So aside from the fact that Netanyahu would reject it, and aside from the fact that it would only produce a repetition of the current Perils of Pauline routine, it is a fine idea.

Equally telling was this: “Levin, who organized the meeting, declined to specify how the White House is trying to convince Abbas to continue with the peace talks if the 60-day freeze is not implemented.” Most likely because the Obami have no plan; their sole “plan” is to plead with and pressure Bibi in private and in public.

The Obama team has never grasped their signal failure — the obsessive fixation on settlements. That fundamental diplomatic error (coupled with their refusal to accept that the PA is neither willing nor able to put an end to terrorism and to give up the dream of a one-state solution) means one thing: the entire Obama Middle East policy has been both a waste of time and counterproductive.