WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry headed to the Middle East yesterday, his third trip to the region in two weeks, in a fresh bid to unlock Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Istanbul was the first leg of a six-nation trip that will see him travel on to Europe and Asia.
From Turkey, he planned to go to Jerusalem for meetings with the presidents and prime ministers of both Israel and the Palestinians. Kerry accompanied President Obama there last month and made a solo trip to Israel shortly after.
Though expectations are low for any breakthrough on Kerry’s trip, his diplomacy represents some of the Obama administration’s most sustained efforts for ending more than six decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Observers see little chance for immediate progress toward a two-state peace pact.