In January the US promised that they'd have the Palestinians signing a peace agreement by the end of the year. I demurely expressed skepticism and fearlessly predicted that the State Department would go out of its way to blame Israel for the failure. Surprise:

The source said that Rice's particularly stern comments about the construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem were an indication of frustration that after 21 visits to the region as secretary of state, she was facing the prospect of leaving office in January without an agreement here. Rice, during each of her public appearances on Sunday, criticized Israeli construction activity.... after meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, she said that while the US remained committed to the target date of completing a shelf agreement by the end of 2008, Israeli construction plans were hurting the negotiations.

The awesome thing about blaming Israel's East Jerusalem construction is that it's only a deal breaker because the State Department convinced the PA to make it a deal breaker. Of course the Palestinians will never sign a final status agreement without East Jerusalem. But in the meantime - for the sake of the vaunted 2008 date - they were at least willing to focus on other issues. Then the State Department unilaterally declared that - actually - East Jerusalem construction isa huge deal and it is tanking the peace process. So of course the Palestinians followed suit. Almost as if it was somewhat predictable US peacemaking would fail and that Israel would get blamed.

References:
* Bush: Oh Hell Yes It's Peace Yet! [MR]
* Fatah Weapons Champion, Abject Failure Keith Dayton Said Nablus Was Fatah's "First Real Test" How's That Going? (Plus: Dozens Of Fatah Soldiers Building Rockets, Targeting Israelis) [MR]
* 'Rice's criticism ruffles few feathers' [JPost]
* It's Official: State Department Positions More Anti-Israel Than What Palestinians Demand [MR]

Previously:
* Hamas-Led Palestinians Pretty Much Having Their Way With Egyptian Border Gaurds
* Abbas: Good Chance We'll Use Our US Security Assistance To Go Back To Killing Israelis
* State Dept: Sure Abbas Just Promised To Attack Israelis. How About We Give Him $25 Million For New Weapons?