Paris meeting marks end to Obama's failed Mideast diplomacy

At a time when President-elect Donald Trump's administration is promising a fundamental shift toward Israel, the State Department said Kerry was only participating in the French-hosted event to ensure America's interest in a two-state solution to the conflict is preserved.

While more than 70 countries are attending, though neither Israel nor the Palestinians, the U.S. is primarily focused on shielding the Jewish state from unfair criticism and ensuring concerns about Palestinian incitement to violence aren't ignored.

While the U.S. received credit from close allies in Europe and elsewhere for abstaining from a December U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, America's partners have grown tired with its leadership on the peace process.

[...] Kerry and other administration officials fear an even worse scenario emerging: the incoming Trump administration moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and ending Washington's longstanding opposition to Israeli settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians.

In his Senate confirmation hearing this week, Trump's choice to succeed Kerry as secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, voiced support for a two-state solution.

A draft of the final communique statement obtained by The Associated Press urges Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."