by Mark Silva
"We need to get this thing back on track,'' President Barack Obama said of the side-tracked peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
This, after a meeting in the Oval Office this afternoon between Obama and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authorty.
Obama, who noted that he campaigned with a pledge not to leave the issue of Middle East peace to the end of his first, or his second, term as president, said in a public session with reporters after the private meeting today that, while he cannot impose a timeline, he is insistent on seeing the Israelis and Palestinians return to the bargaining table.
At the moment, the Obama administration is placing pressure on Israel's leaders to suspend their settllements in the West Bank -- a key concession that always has been part of any formula for a "two-state solution'' or "roadmap to peace,'' as the Bush White House and now the Obama House have viewed it. The other part of that formula is a Palestinian guarantee of security, which has remained equally as elusive.
With the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking again about West Bank settlements, and with the Palestinians divided between the West Bank government of Abbas and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, however, getting "this thing back on track'' will take more than a couple of meetings such as today's and the recent session that Obama held with Netanyahu at the White House.
Obama plans to travel to Saudi Arabia and Egypt next week, with the president delivering an address to the Muslim world from Cairo University on June 4, when talk of getting peace talks back on track is certain to be part of the headlines again.
(Photo of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and President Barack Obama in the Oval Office today by Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press / MCT)
Comments
Write to your congresspeople and tell them to support President Obama's Middle East peace making initiatives and support moderates in Israel and Palestine. It is the only way to stop wingnuttia from breaking out!
Posted by: Alice Palmer | May 28, 2009 9:31 PM
There is no chance for peace in Israel and Palestine with Netanyahu in power. None. The only peace he will accept is one where Israel controls all of Jerusalem, and the occupied territories remain permanently occupied by Israel, with the Palestinians remaining dominated militarily, economically, geographically and informationally by Israel. Israeli settlers will get whatever palestinian land they desire. He will give nothing, and demand everything.
Posted by: Benjamin | May 29, 2009 9:45 AM
Who will back down in this game of chicken between the US and Israel?
http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=5387
.
Posted by: JeffBoste | May 29, 2009 11:01 AM
Netanyhu has already played this little game. Unlike your sub-standared Liberal Defeatist, Netanyhu has an understanding of self-survival. He also has a sovereign, democratic country to protect and defend. Mustapha Mond's "hope and change" blather won't work here. Thankfully.
When Israel has to take out Syrian-Libyan-Iraqi "nuclear enrichment programs" the World most dutifully condemns Israel, but they sure the hell are silently thankful. Liberals will never understand any of this.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | May 29, 2009 1:26 PM
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | May 29, 2009 1:26 PM \
Yeah, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. Long Live the Israeli Empire! It's double plus good!
Posted by: George O. | May 29, 2009 3:37 PM
I do not like a lot of Israeli policies, but there is nothing more that I would like than to see Israel succeed.
I think if they stooped building their settlements, it would go a long way toward a peaceful outcome.
For those who don't believe; I suggest that they give it a sustained honest try.
Posted by: Chris Ronk | May 29, 2009 4:39 PM
Yeah, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. Long Live the Israeli Empire! ...
Posted by: George O. | May 29, 2009 3:37 PM
In the Phantasia World of Liberalism:
- Capitulation is Peace
- Slavery is the end-game
- Ignorance is Disturbingly Profound
Empire? Israeli Empire?? This is your definition of an Empire??? They are surrounded by enemies working daily for their destruction, they have to defend their civilian population against Hamas at any moment in time, the entire damn world would like to complete The Holocaust, and Netanyahu is supposed to bend over? There cannot be anything more stunningly irrational than modern Liberalism.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | May 29, 2009 7:37 PM
Chris, that may be enough to bring matters back to the bargaining table, but the real issues are final borders, Jerusalem, and probably the stickiest problem, the fate of refugees (and their millions of descendants) who claim a right of return to Israel. The last one is the biggest problem because Arab countries have been keeping these refugees in squalid camps for decades living off UN handouts, and these countries will not support any resolution that does not get these people off their hands. Israel will claim they don't have the infrastructure to absorb all these people into their small country, but the major reason in my view is that it would destroy the Jewish majority in Israel. I have never seen any real progress on this issue, and I don't see either side bending.
Posted by: Herbie H. | May 29, 2009 8:07 PM
heartburn you're right. I'm sure Netanyahu will find a soluition to the Palestinian problem. A final solution. I'm sure you'll celebrate that triumph of peace and liberty, won't you? After akll, as long as someone claims it protects Israeli lives, anything is acceptable. Anything.
Posted by: George O. | May 30, 2009 11:16 AM