The end of the Camp David summit was not a shock. Only a week ago, the summit for all intent and purposes was over. Bags were packed and flight arrangements made. Only a last-minute agreement kept the talks going for almost another week.
But the ultimate failure was predestined.
Neither side was ready or able to make a deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak came to Camp David having just lost his majority in the Knesset. He was negotiating from a weakened state. Yet he still offered to share sovereignty with the Palestinians in East Jerusalem neighborhoods and to recognize a Palestinian state. These were real risks for a prime minister who might be forced to run in early elections.
But what Barak put on the table was not enough for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who had painted himself into a corner long before the talks began. Arafat said he could never accept a deal unless he got sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Hamas and other right-wing Palestinian groups would accept no less.
Now both Barak and Arafat return to the Mideast full of recriminations. Each is blaming the other. And both Jews and Palestinians will harden their feelings toward one another.
Barak will likely be forced into a re-election unless he agrees to join in a coalition government with Likud leader Ariel Sharon. Even if he does, there is little likelihood that Likud would be willing to cede an inch of Jerusalem to win a deal with the Palestinians.
Arafat returns to face Hamas, which had long ago proclaimed him out of step. Arafat is looking old. He is not the strong leader of the Palestinian people that he once was. Unless a peace agreement is reached while he is still around, Israel might face an even more difficult opponent.
Another summit in a couple of months is not out of the question. But what is more likely is that both sides will need to regroup.
Negotiations can only resume when both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have the support of their people behind them. For now, that does not seem possible.