Moreh, who made the Oscar-nominated documentary film The Gatekeepers about the heads of the Shin Bet security services, has a knack for getting people who know a little bit about manipulation to open up. In addition to this six-part series, there is also a movie version of this series, which was shown at the Jerusalem Film Festival in the winter. But the series, which will definitely appeal to political junkies, is far more detailed and ultimately much more effective, because, as these negotiators would likely admit, the devil is in the details. But so are the angels, as this series repeatedly emphasizes the humanity of all concerned in the process and how often vanity, stubbornness, miscalculations, misguided optimism, fatigue and other very human traits – hence the name of the series – often gum up the works of a process which is difficult at best.
The series starts off in 1991, in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union, which American government officials saw as an unprecedented opportunity to broker peace in the Middle East, and goes all the way up to the Obama administration. As we know all too well, this story is a vast catalog of missed opportunities and failed efforts.
Interviewees in the film include State Department veterans, former ambassadors to Israel, envoys, presidential advisers and other officials, among them Aaron David Miller, Martin Indyk, Elliot Abrams, Dennis Ross, Gamal Helal, Robert Malley, George Mitchell and Daniel Kurtzer. They are able to share anecdotes now that they could never discuss while they were on the job and the more you know about how the few triumphs along this rocky road were achieved, the more you will marvel at how any agreement was ever signed. These diplomats come off as weary and well-meaning and some seem as if they were simply out of their depth when it came to the hatred and history they were facing down.
Some of the more interesting moments include Ross’s reminiscence of negotiating with Syrian president Hafez al-Assad early in the Clinton administration, and warning Assad that there must be no leaks of their meeting. Assad replied, “Anyone who leaks this meeting will be harming Syrian state security and he knows what the consequences for that would be,” a response Ross found chilling. It’s also interesting to see how a spat between lifelong rivals prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and foreign minister Shimon Peres almost derailed the historic signing of the Oslo Peace Accords on the White House lawn at the last minute. Indyk recalls how Rabin had three conditions for shaking PLO chairman Yasser Arafat’s hand at the signing ceremony: “No gun, no uniform and no kiss.” Rabin got his way on the gun and the kiss – the Israeli prime minister skillfully held Arafat at arm’s length – but lost out when it came to the uniform.
Toward the end of the final episode, Gamal Helal, a senior diplomatic interpreter who has worked for several presidential administrations, says, “Unless you are planning to accept the other side, there is zero hope of a solution.” And here we are again, just two weeks after another ceasefire.