On the eve of President Barack Obama’s arrival in Jerusalem [on March 20], the agenda for the visit may already be set down: Would it prominently feature a Middle East peace plan? No, thank you, not at this point in time.
As recently reported, Obama intends to let the parties to the conflict stew themselves over it, to give the Europeans an opportunity to do the job for him and exert pressure on the parties, and to allow US Secretary of State John Kerry to outline the policy. Obama is expected to explain to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the continued status quo would be to the detriment of Israel, and to give voice to his own ideas on the issue (two states for two peoples). However, no operative steps are likely to be taken at this stage. The visit has been described as designed “to deliver a message to the Israeli public” and “to strengthen the alliance between the two nations” — all those worn-out clichés, plus one really important task: Obama will try to bring down the wall of suspicion alienating him from the average Israeli, to capture the hearts of the Israelis (which wouldn’t be too hard to do — you can ask former President Bill Clinton) and to build mutual trust.
