White House Pivots in Mideast Peace Bid

[Frank Booth]

Source: NY Times

UNITED NATIONS — President Obama, who has met immovable resistance from Israel over his demand for a full freeze on settlements in the West Bank, is largely setting that issue aside as a first step toward restarting Middle East peace talks.

Rather, Mr. Obama, unable to extract that concession from Israel or other confidence-building moves from Arab states, seems intent to press Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate all the difficult issues between them toward a final deal that has eluded negotiators, and bedeviled American presidents, since President Jimmy Carter brokered a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1979.

The pivot toward tackling issues that include the status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the borders of a future Palestinian state greatly increases the stakes for an administration that has found even small advances to be beyond reach. It also risks making Mr. Obama appear ineffective in having not gained a tangible early goal of his Middle East policy.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/world/middleeast/23prexy.html?_r=1&hp

---

This is clearly a matter of importance to this country, and is appropriate for the LBN forum.

It also further demonstrates that, if you just ignore Obama's demands, he'll give up rather easily.

[Old Hob]

1. it demonstrates that some things are easier said than done

peace in the middle east? May as well say you're going to make the clouds rain down fine French wine.

[No Elephants]

4. Which would cause its own set of problems.

[FarCenter]

2. Why is Obama wasting time meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas?

Other heads of state in New York were meeting with the Presidents and Prime Ministers of important countries.

Obama was wasting his time meeting with the Netanyahu, the head of a relatively small and unimportant state in the Middle East, and with Abbas, who isn't even that.

[liberalpragmatist]

3. Um, it sounds more like a doubling-down

Sorry, there's not much evidence to support your last sentence.

Instead, it appears that in face of Israeli intransigence to make a confidence-building interim step (settlement freeze), the administration is instead opting to skip the interim phases and going straight for final status talks. Personally, I think that's exactly what should be done, as interim steps were what completely derailed Oslo. The conflict needs to end. Soon.

[Frank Booth]

9. I'd like to be that optimistic.

The cynical side of me thinks that Bibi's realized that he got Obama to cave on settlements by just ignoring his demands over the past 9 months, and that he can similarly get Obama to cave on any concessions Obama may demand in connection with the peace talks.

[elleng]

5. Continued W.Bank settlements not legitimate: Obama

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4073358

True facts anywhere?

[pattmarty]

6. I have to agree with your last sentence. It's now almost 9 months..........

...............Obama has been in office with good majorities in the House and Senate and it looks like he will be a "weak" president. In these past months there seems to be a larger and larger gap in what he says and what he does. I now am thinking primary contest in 2012.

[bemildred]

7. This seems to be mostly empty babble.

I think I will let President Obama speak for himself.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Think of all the jet fuel wasted to fly Bibi and Abbas to the US for a photo op

Let's be kind to the environment and next time just have a teleconference.