Last week, former British prime minister Tony Blair sent an invitation to the sitting president of the United States, Barack Obama, calling on him to come visit Israel next June.

Why would Blair invite Obama to Jerusalem? Well, Blair also happens to be president of the President’s Committee, an event organized by President Shimon Peres that takes place annually in Jerusalem. Every year, this shindig is hyped as a “Celebration of Shimon Peres,” but this year it will be ten times more colorful, because Peres, Israel’s most popular statesman and, indeed, one of the best-known statesmen in the world, will be celebrating his ninetieth birthday. True, he was technically born in August, and the festival is scheduled to take place in June, but then again, why nitpick? Peres is turning ninety years old, and the whole world will be coming to celebrate!

The guest list for Peres’s eightieth birthday was rather impressive too, and back then he wasn’t even a president. So, if war doesn’t erupt in June — and we’ll only know in June — Jerusalem will be overwhelmed by presidents, prime ministers and an impressive cast of international dignitaries. They will all be coming to congratulate the man who is truly Israel’s "elder statesman," but at the same time they will be coming to express their solidarity with all that Peres represents.

Which brings us to our main point: What will be the outcome of the second consecutive terms of these two sworn rivals, US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (for whom this is actually his third term) for their respective countries and the entire Middle East? Well, Obama has a plan. Just a word of warning though: He had a plan during his last term, too, and that all came crashing down as soon as he delivered his Cairo speech, which is now fading away in the dustbin of history. In other words, every plan is subject to the idiosyncrasies that make up the reality of this crazy Middle East.