The coming attraction is Barack Obama''s visit to Israel.It reminds me of what I learned in Kenya 40 years ago. A presidential visit was an opportunity for the provinces. There would be money for paving the streets and repairing the buildings, as well as banners and flags, and telling the residents they were expected to line the streets and applaud the great man.Here the equivalent of fixing the streets and buildings is the opportunity for politicians, commentators, and activists from across the spectrum to urge their panaceas as fitting the great man''s agenda.And that agenda is ? ? ?There are some who think the principal reason for the visit is Iran. That is the idea of Israelis on the right, most prominently Benyamin Netanyahu, who do not want to move on anything else.There are some who think that the principal reason is Palestine.The Palestinians are prominent in that camp. Since their UN victory and the announcement of Obama''s visit, they have been heating the air with marches, demonstrations, an uptick in violence, and mass enthusiasm about ending "occupation" (which some define as Israel''s existence), and supporting a hand full of security prisoners doing their part via an extended hunger strike.right. A recent article deals with Syria, but could also be written about every other country in the region. Each has been cobbled together from a collection of contentious ethnic and religious minorities. Syria and Iraq are currently unraveling or already unraveled. Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iran and Palestine suffer from the same condition. Afghanistan never was a country with a functioning central government.The plight of the Palestinians is a convenient symbol for autocrats sitting on their social volcanoes who hope to postpone the next rebellion. The problems in each of those places dwarf whatever can be said about their concern for Palestine.Barack Obama may have learned something about the Middle East since his Cairo speech of 2009. He has spoken about downsizing aspirations. Yet John Kerry is hoping for a Palestinian State before the end of his term. No doubt there is the pressure within the Oval Office, by individuals far from this region, to make one more grand effort to use Palestine as the key to quiet the Middle East.The Economist is familiar with the European colonial tradition that sought years ago to deal with various parts of the Middle East by the simple device of national governments put on top of diverse populations. Perhaps some on the staff recognize that their own analysis runs counter to their usual line of urging Israel to solve what no one can.As in the case of Kenyatta''s visit to a distant province, Israelis will get the flags up on the routes to be traveled by the President. There will be opportunities for the residents to applaud, with ranks of American and Israeli security personnel protecting the great man and his huge entourage. We can expect a rich collection of signs calling for an end of occupation, a Palestinian state, peace, Iran, and who knows what else.But there may not be an Israeli government at the end of the red carpet.Has someone on high considered that commotions due to the visit may prevent the creation of an Israeli government? And that the appropriate response is to postpone the event, and let the various parts of the Middle East attend to themselves?It is time for someone to update that song in Fiddler on the Roof, that asks God to bless and keep the Czar-- far away from us.