Der Krieg, der kein Ende nehmen wollte

On October 6, the Biden administration believed it was on the cusp of a grand bargain between Saudi Arabia and Israel—the centerpiece of which would have been a Palestinian state. Steps would be taken to redesign Palestine’s electrical grid and welfare system and eliminate administrative corruption from the Palestinian Authority. 

Several hours after a meeting on the details of the plan adjourned, a White House official received a text message: “Israel is under attack.”

Yet even as the fighting threatened to escalate into a regional war, Secretary of State Antony Blinken felt that the historic deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel was not out of reach. Based on interviews with more than two dozen participants at the highest levels of government in the U.S. and across the Middle East, Franklin Foer reports on how the Biden administration made extensive efforts—yet still failed—to get the peace process back on track: [https://theatln.tc/XdwLVWXf](https://theatln.tc/XdwLVWXf)