Will Obama set Mideast guidelines for next president?
US sources claim that President Barack Obama is considering a presidential speech to set guiding principles on a two-state solution for the next administration.
While Americans and the world at large are captivated by the fierce US election campaign, many international eyes are also set on Washington for potential movement on the stalled Middle East peace process. There will be two key periods this fall: The annual gathering of the UN General Assembly will take place in September, and in November, just after the presidential elections, President Barack Obama may be more free to make a policy move on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
The Palestinians hope Obama will not leave office without setting a US policy platform for the next president along the lines of the proposed framework by Secretary of State John Kerry in the spring of 2015. Kerry's proposal included a future border on the basis of the 1967 lines and the promotion of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
According to a senior PLO official, the State Department informed Ramallah that a formal declaration on US Middle East policies and interests — possibly by Obama — is indeed being contemplated, but certainly not for November.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be in New York in September to meet with Kerry and promote a UN Security Council resolution with the Arab League on Palestinian statehood along the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as capital and with a binding time line of 2-3 years for implementation. The Palestinian leadership has little hope that such a proposal will be adopted, but believes that the attempt will exert pressure on Washington to issue a more balanced and less pro-Israel declaration.
