By expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and refusing to consider Palestinian self-determination, “we’re watching a situation that will recur” in the Middle East, argues former US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer.

Kurtzer tells host Steve Clemons that the war in Gaza “uncovered a weakness on the part of the United States in dealing with an extreme government in Israel”. The result is that US diplomacy has neither been able to end Israel’s carnage in Gaza, nor deal with the underlying problems between Palestine and Israel. So the conflict continues to escalate in the region, with no end in sight.