When Europe's leading diplomats concede that the U.S. Secretary of State represents the best hope for their own foreign policy efforts, it is a telling indication of the dire state of things in the Middle East. Even in the post-Sept. 11 era of togetherness, European officials have seldom shrunk from assertions of their independence, engaging in transatlantic squabbles with the Bush Administration over everything from steel tariffs to the "axis of evil" rhetoric of a President whose policies many of them dislike.
Until recently, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was no exception. European voices were among the loudest chastising the...