(CNN) -- No-one can fault U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for lack of effort. He has just wrapped up his 10th visit to the Middle East in pursuit of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority -- the most elusive prize in international diplomacy. Kerry has a vision, according to U.S. diplomats -- to climb the mountain with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and to peer down from the summit on the valley of peace to see what a two-state solution would look like. It is a poetic metaphor, but more than half-way into the nine-month timetable for reaching a framework agreement, Kerry's partners are still bickering in the foothills. The more pessimistic observers -- with history on their side -- say both the Israelis and Palestinians are positioning themselves to be able to blame the other for failure.Through intensive diplomacy the U.S. Secretary of State is trying to build momentum in Middle East peace talksBorders and Jewish settlements are likely to be the most difficult piece of Kerry's puzzleSome within Israel's coalition government want to annex Jewish settlements in the fertile Jordan Valley 
 Question:Kerry dropped hints about progress last week, saying after meeting _ that talks had "fleshed out and even resolved" certain kinds of issues.
Mahmoud Abbas