It's hard to overstate the importance of the press briefing held by senior White House staff Nov. 5 on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington. They said that not only is there no chance of reaching a permanent Israeli-Palestinian agreement during the time left in President Barack Obama’s last term, but further negotiations will also have to wait for the next president. Coming after these statements and preceding Obama's Nov. 9 meeting with Netanyahu, the declaration by the president that he intended to speak with his guest about ways to return to the peace process sounded hollow and even grating. Obama also stated, “Israel has not just the right but the obligation to defend itself.” Ok, but what about the right of Palestinians to defend themselves against settler violence and the commitment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to ending the settlement enterprise?
If Obama refuses to withdraw his “resignation” as senior mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, he will leave his successor scorched earth between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It would mark the first time since Lyndon Johnson's administration that a US president left the White House without writing a note on the unfinished symphony of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
