I’m not holding my breath, but it looks like the UN is finally doing its job of neutral mediation in the middle east. The UN human rights envoy for the Palestinian territories publicly stated two days ago that the UN should withdraw from the ‘quartet’ (US, Russia, EU and UN) to protest lack of concern for Palestinian human rights on the part of the other quartet members. Of course the UN has no power at all, except to lend legitimacy to mediation processes; so it’s completely appropriate that it withdraw under these circumstances.