Jared Kushner’s third trip to the region in the search for a Middle East peace agreement has still not produced any visible signs of progress. That is not good; the more the visits, the more the talking without tangible results, the more Kushner risks losing his credibility and that of his father-in-law President Donald Trump who wants to make this ultimate deal.

Kushner’s three-hour meeting with Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas was described as positive but no details were discussed. Abbas reiterated his desire for an American commitment to a Palestinian state and said he greatly appreciated Trump’s efforts. This is a far cry from their tense sit-down in June in which Kushner rattled off a series of demands relayed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Abbas’s climbdown to reconciliation from his reported fury in June may stop the Palestinians from pushing for a declaration at the UN General Assembly in support of accepting Palestine as a full UN member, and increasing efforts to sue Israel in the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

It is the Palestinian right to consider resuming the international campaign for statehood in UN institutions. Israel will of course balk but what is its alternative? Here, it must be asked what is holding back a peace agreement. From Oslo to Wye to Camp David 2000 to the roadmap for peace, all the major sticking points have been hashed and rehashed. The only thing left is for Tel Aviv to apply what is on paper to the ground. Therein lies the obstacle. Netanyahu is not budging. Abbas is conditioning his cooperation with the US peace initiative on the Americans publicly stating their commitment to the two-state solution and their objection to continued construction in the settlements. He has said Washington basically supports him on these two points but complained that it hesitates to say as much to Netanyahu.

Even if Netanyahu were informed, it is near impossible to see how he will suddenly become the man to make peace. Netanyahu has been elected prime minister of Israel four times, the only prime minister in Israel’s history to be elected three times in a row. That’s a total of 11 years at Israel’s helm starting in 1996 - and nothing to show for it in terms of peace. If anything, Netanyahu is going backwards. In recent weeks, on the background of the police investigations against him, he has voiced especially hawkish stances on the Palestinian issue. At a rally organized for him some two weeks ago, Netanyahu expressed his objection to the establishment of a Palestinian state and to any withdrawal from the West Bank.

The Kushner trip could actually be considered something of a success if the US manages to identify an approach that Abbas and Netanyahu do not dismiss out of hand. The problem is that the parties are long past this point. By now, they should have been at the end stage, not the beginning. If the US administration needs to make its plans known soon, as is often reported, that goes double for Israel.

It may be that the recent violence at Haram Al-Sharif has accelerated the administration’s timetable and its desire to try to get something going before violence breaks out again. The thinking is logical but time is running short. This is Kushner’s third trip to the region in four months. This latest official visit is an indication of Trump’s interest in achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. But another trip or two without producing concrete results will erode more of Kushner’s credibility on this issue. The parties will grow accustomed to and weary of his visits. They may show him some deference because of his closeness to Trump, but that’s just about it.