While the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence in years escalates, rivaling that of 2014, the United States is sitting on the sidelines. Prudence is, of course, wise. Still, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Energizer bunny of U.S. diplomacy, is sending signals–almost all the wrong ones–that Washington is getting ready to engage. How the Obama administration should deal with the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict is far from clear. But it is clear that these four things are not helping Mr. Kerry or the situation: