John Kerry has been U.S. secretary of state for one year, and he has already (1) rescued President Barack Obama from his ill-considered promise to bomb Syria if it crossed the "red line" and used poison gas; (2) opened serious negotiations with Iran on its alleged attempt to build nuclear weapons; and (3) taken on the job of brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

Getting Obama off the hook was useful, and may yet lead to the United States ending its support for the insurgency in Syria, which at this point would probably be the least bad outcome. Opening negotiations with Iran was long overdue, and makes the nightmare prospect of an American or a joint U.S.-Israeli air attack on Iran daily less likely. But even King Solomon and Avicenna (Ibn Sina), sitting jointly in judgment on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, could not broker a peace accord there.

Kerry is indefatigable. He has been to Israel/Palestine 11 times in the past year, and spent as much as a hundred hours face to face with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas or their close advisers. Unlike all the previous "brokers," he has been astoundingly discreet: not a hint of what has been said in private has leaked into the public domain. And yet there is almost no hope of a real peace deal.