Our Secretary of State was all smiles and handshakes. We had reached a “very important point” — an opportunity to bring Israelis and Palestinians into final status talks. All the tough issues would be worked out. Finally, there would be peace. Exactly the opposite happened.

It was June 28, 2000. After Secretary Madeleine Albright’s sit-down with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, President Clinton decided to roll the dice. He called for high-level negotiations at Camp David. Expectations were sky high, and White House cheerleading pushed them even higher.