On Sept. 29 in Al-Monitor, I referred to the strategy devised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the face of what was once called “disturbing the peace and order” and is now known as “stone terrorism.” Netanyahu declared, “Whoever tries to attack us, we will hurt him.” Regrettably, especially for the four children of the Henkin family left orphaned Oct. 1, the threat by the leader whose election slogan described him as “strong in the face of Hamas” did not stop the terrorists who shot and killed their parents, Naama and Eitam Henkin, in front of them.

The moment of extended silence by the leader “strong on defense” (another election slogan) on the podium of the UN General Assembly — a device intended to protest the “world’s silence” on anti-Israeli terrorism — did not reverberate after the Oct. 3 stabbing deaths in Jerusalem of Nehemia Lavi and Aharon Bennett, may they rest in peace. These two men joined other victims of the cycle of occupation-freeze-violence-occupation drafted by Netanyahu. The Sept. 30 “firecracker” speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations, the speech billed in advance as a “bombshell,” served as a warning that on the Palestinian side as well, the pro-violence camp is usurping the pro-diplomacy camp.

Netanyahu’s speech, with its staged silence, was another of his obvious gimmicks, while Abbas' firecracker speech was another whistle in the dark. The speech delivered by President Barack Obama from the same podium Sept. 28, in which he ignored the bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, was a violation of a pledge he made to both peoples in June 2009 in his groundbreaking speech in Cairo. Obama promised, “I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience and dedication that the task requires … it is time for them [Israelis and Palestinians] — and all of us — to live up to our responsibilities. That is in Israel's interest, Palestine's interest, America's interest, and the world's interest.”

In that same speech, Obama diagnosed the condition of the Palestinian people as “intolerable” and promised, “America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.” Six and a half years later — 18 months before he concludes his second and last term in office — these declarations appear worthless. Resolution of the conflict now seems more distant than it was when Obama entered the White House.