of, that he had that portfolio p of middle east peace in his deck of cards. and, richard, how effective was the united states as an interlocutor? we saw the white house being or very sort of careful but also somewhat transparent about theii strategy, communicating publiclt around this. they were saying, we are doing diplomacy. the president bragging about how intensive the effort was. but the white house was insisting over and over again that their diplomatic efforts were quiet, they were behind thi scenes, they were while they were applied and deliberate and consistent, they were not e something we were going to see every step of the way. can you tell from your reportino how effective u.s. efforts were here? reporter: i think quiet was e key in this, and i m not just trying to celebrate the u.s. us efforts. it s just you have to look at the alternative.yo had president trump been in office still, for example and you have to think about things i