US Secretary of State John Kerry is soon to depart for his fifth visit to Israel in search of a diplomatic formula that will permit negotiations between Israel and the PLO to begin in earnest. Over the decades, there have been any number of mediators — many of them forgettable and some few who are not — who have sought without lasting success to breach the divide between the parties. Kerry is the latest in this long progression. He certainly won't be the last. But it is a fair question at this point in his campaign to ask just what exactly Kerry is bringing to the process that distinguishes his effort — and its prospects — from its predecessors. 

There is always the chance that what is going on in the public eye only reveals the less important part of the story, and that behind closed doors Kerry's leadership is producing a dynamic “common space” between Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that addresses the core issues of the conflict.  

One can only hope that this is the case. Otherwise it is hard to avoid concluding that the “new ideas” that Kerry has brought to the table consist of little more than the participation of the secretary himself. And, with all due respect to Kerry's talent and acumen, just having a fresh face at the table adds little of value to the storyline. 

As Kerry prepares for his latest visit, he risks becoming like the wallpaper in a room — familiar, unobtrusive and ineffective. The tools in his diplomatic tool bag are shopworn. There are no sharp edges in his call for confidence-building measures and economic development in the West Bank with a dollop of encouragement in principle for the Arab Peace Initiative.