WASHINGTON — In an unusually stark assessment, the White House said President Barack Obama has concluded that reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is “not in the cards” in the 14 months left of his presidency, top White House officials said Nov. 5. Given that assessment, and that there may not even be meaningful negotiations during that time, President Obama will be looking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring ideas to their meeting at the White House next week on steps that could be taken to preserve the two-state option for the future and to prevent the situation on the ground from further deteriorating, the officials said.
“We have to reach a realistic assessment, but there will not be a comprehensive final status agreement in the remainder of [Obama’s] term, and there likely may not even be meaningful negotiations between the two sides,” Robert Malley, the National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East, told journalists on a White House call Nov. 5.
