by Mark Silva
It's President Barack Obama's turn at the bargaining table with the leaders of the Middle East: With the president calling on long-divided parties to recommit to talks about a "two-state solution'' for Israelis and Palestinians.
The White House today announced the dates of promised meetings in May with the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive at the White House on Monday, the administration announced, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will arrive on May 26 and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will follow on May 28.
"With each of them,'' White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today, "the president will discuss ways the United States can strengthen and deepen our partnerships, as well as the steps all parties should take to help achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians and between Israel and the Arab states.''
That path is the same one that former President George W. Bush was pursuing, albeit with a stepped-up effort that only got underway late in his second term, an elusive agreement for a new Palestinian state living side by side with Israel. Bush's hopes of reaching such an accord by the end of his term were dashed by renewed conflicts between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Obama also plans to make his own journey to Egypt on June 4, with a public address to the Muslim world that will attempt to focus the region's attention on a renewed bid for peace and a U.S. commitment to a new course in international diplomacy.
In Egypt, Obama confronts a longtime leader whose nation lately has lent support to renewed peace talks, yet has balked at U.S. pressure to ease repression of dissidents at home. In Abbas, Obama faces a politically weakened Palestinian leader who has been eager to reach a deal. In Netanyahu, he faces a newly seated, embolded hard-liner.
The individual meetings that Obama plans with each of these leaders will set a marker for his administration's bid to broker a lasting agreement that several presidents before him have failed to secure. If history is any indication, progress will be measured in years, not dinner dates in May.
Comments
The summit is more about building relationships than it is about coming to negotiations. Most likely it will be photo-ops and distracted blather about Iran. There is a great story about the visit here:
Posted by: Rosa | May 18, 2009 2:55 PM