At first glance, there is something almost quixotic about John Kerry’s effort to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The US secretary of state has certainly been energetic in the enterprise. It is less clear that he has the full-throated backing of the White House. And, anyway, should not the US be focusing on more pressing matters such as the civil war in Syria and coup in Egypt?

No one ever looked foolish by voicing pessimism about the long-misdescribed Middle East peace process. Many think Israel’s support for colonisation of the West Bank has rendered academic any debate about two states. As for Barack Obama, when did the US president last take a big political risk to match up to those fine speeches? And Mr Kerry? Some say the shuttle diplomacy is more a reflection of excessive self-belief than of real prospects for a breakthrough.

There is, however, another way of looking at this. If Mr Kerry does fail, the two-state game really will be over. Attention will turn to the rights of Palestinians trapped in West Bank bantustans. Israel will be obliged to face up to the choice it has always avoided: a state reaching from the Mediterranean to the Jordan river cannot be at once Jewish and democratic. As to any other regional priorities, what else could the US be doing?