Isrant

I agree Joe, should have already done it.

I'm only guessing, but it seems as though President Obama is unwilling to take on any real fights while health reform is still in the balance. If he gets tough with Israel some Dem senators (and Lieberman) will stage a revolt. Also, a big domestic victory like health care reform would boost Obama's stature so that he would be in a better position to take on the Israel Lobby.

The real question is "will peace in this region every be likely"??

JK,

Perfect!
~
However, it is important to note that Mr Obama has most likely sacrificed any altruistic pursuit of justice in the name of ambitious political expediency. Read the following and ask yourself whether this appears to reflect any desire to take Israel to task...
http://www.imemc.org/article/61446

Stupid. Netanyahu's government should not rub Obama's nose in it. Everyone knows Obama got rolled. Israel should have been gracious about it.
.
God, did Obama look silly. I mean, really, the Jerusalem stuff was just plain idiotic, and natural growth is a really big deal because it allows settlers' kids to get the same good deal their parents have.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/09/obama_impatient_with_5000_year.asp
.
Hilarious.

Aww poor spob, wasnt it Israel saying they could destroy Iran in one fell swoop- and then Ehud Barak comes out saying Iran is no threat- is this because he knows the Americans would shoot down the planes down or let them get their hats handed to them. Keep playing checkers while the adminstration plays chess. PALIN 2012-2014(1/2)- cuz you know she will resign:)

And I thought Obama was playing three-level chess . . . .

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/982ahtem.asp?pg=2

The right is so obsessed with the missile shield being dropped they didn't notice that it's replacement is far more dangerous to Iran, and much better for Israel, in spite of Israel's snub of it's greatest ally.

Now that Obama has dropped his demand that Israel end "settlement" activity, can he really expect any progress to be made?
.
Is it now back to the old formula, where the Palestinians have to jump through hoops just for Israeli entertainment?
.
Joe, which direction does credibility swirl when it goes down the drain?
.
My take on this is that if Obama really has abandoned the single real issue that blocks an agreement, any further attempt to spin this to the PA and Arab backers is just noise. Peace talks are d.e.a.d.
.
tstar3:
spob knows nothing about these matters. All he knows how to do is spout rhetoric. spob's brain is wired to FOX and Glenn Beck. They pull his levers. They jerk his chains. They tell him how to think.

The leader of Israel has said there is no way that Palestine gets East Jerusalem, and I assume he is against the right of returnl. Unless these are just opening bargaining points, open to movement, there is no point in wasting time on peace negotiations.

The only good thing about debating blob, er spob....is that you don't need alot of brain cells. Its the most basic superficial knowledge needed to shoot down his theories. If its spob vs a chicken- I got the chicken in 3 rounds. spob did ya hear that Russia was open to sanctions for the first time against Tehran- and poor old Bibi had to fly in the middle of the night to go Russia when Medvedev was indiffirent about Iran obtaining nukes- whose playing who again? Oh yeah trade war- or not, I sure saw Chinese prez Hsu cheesing mighty hard next to Obama yesterday. Ah, you wingnuts- and here I thought the internets could expedite the ability of man to hold more than one thought in their head. MUST OBEY FOX MUST OBEY FOX MUST OBEY FOX MUST OBEY MUST FOX OBEY-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Dear Joe Klein

I don't honestly think peace is israeli's interest, for various reasons but the main reason is that, why should they give up lands they conquered by force?
For peace? Israeli's logic of peace is that, as long as you can "enforce" peace on your less equipped, poorly trained neighbours, and much less the so-called International community. Naturally, they can sustain the "status quo".

This may be short-sighted for any foreign policy approach but Israel seem to accept this assertion because it has worked so far, hasn't it?

If Israel had intended to return those lands which are illegal under International Law, to its owerners, they could have returned Golan Heights to Syria.
But Israel's argument is that, Syria and other Arab States, have to recognize us first and we might return those lands back, which is not true, given their policies.
It is as if every Israeli government denouces its prevoous adminstration's agreement with PA.
Just to prolong any feasible solution for the ME .
Or to force its antagonists concession by starting the whole peace process from stcatch. Isn't this a bit of hypocrisy when Hamas are berated for not honoring other peace treaties signed by PLO? (Oslo agreement, for instance) when the west are silent about Israel's reneges over various commitments , least not not last, the Annapolis Conference.

The current Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party has publically stated that they are not bonded by the Annapolis Conference, even though, the Labor party of Ehud Barak was a member (Defense Minister, still is) of that government led by Prime Minister Olmert of Kadima.

Unfortunately, such a hypocrisy and backpedaling on commitment made by a state, leaves the door open to the ancient old human's evolution on War&Peace solutions: What's lost by force, must be reconquered by force. It may sound barbaric solution but there's no way I can explain what Israeli government and the west , by extent were allowed to anguish defenseless Palestinian's civilians, with total impunity.

Israeli might have enjoyed since its inception; a predominated world led by her creators, but the west's influences in the world has been diminishing.
The war in Iraq and Afghanstan have really showed us what superpowers could achieve with their mightly firepower against peasant guerrilla warfare.

When the West's economic powers wanes, their military supremacy will also decrease tremendously.
We are beginning to withness that already.

Obama is smart enough, (of course in the benefit of hindsight) to know what has worked and what hasn't worked from his predecessor in the international arena, in finding lasting peace for Middle East.
I personally don't believe he can do it , partly because he doesn't have neither the will nor the stomach to stand up against a congress which has been pro-Israel since Harry Truman.

Kade

Sincerely yours.

Not as "galling" as this, Mr. Klein:

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/movers-and-shakers/

The "wrong side of history" indeed.