WHAT WAS KERRY DOING?

From Paul Mirgenoff at Powerline:

Harsanyi thus concludes that “we either have an incompetent Secretary of State or a momentous shift in Middle East policy.” 

We do, indeed, have an incompetent Secretary of State. And under President Obama, our Middle East policy has shifted momentously. But neither phenomenon seems sufficient to explain Kerry’s proposal. 

Incompetence is one thing; stupidity another. And the U.S. could have manifested its tilt away from Israel without presenting a proposal it knew would be rejected so emphatically.  

My theory is that the Obama administration expected some within the Israeli government to go ballistic, and wanted that reaction. 

Why would the American administration want to generate openly expressed outrage against its Secretary of State? To create leverage. 

Team Obama could respond to Israeli outrage with outrage of its own. Israel, fearing a deterioration in relations with its traditional ally, would then feel pressure to “make nice” by offering concessions.