Israel Matzav

'Political realities'?

From a story on downplaying expectations for a meeting among Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Obama and Abu Bluff that's expected to take place in New York later this month.

Pushing the peace process towards its conclusion too quickly will result in a major failure, Steinberg warns.

However, political realities leave Obama at least feeling he must deliver, and sooner rather than later.

One of the key problems facing both Obama and Netanyahu is that in the U.S. and Israel politicians come and politicians go. The nature of the American political systems means Obama will be seeking reelection in 2012, while the shaky electoral structure in Israel could see Netanyahu out of office at any point over the next four years.

Netanyahu may not want to reach a final-status agreement as prime minister and has been accused by political rivals of foot-dragging on the Palestinian issue. On the other hand, Obama has made it clear that he wants to see an early conclusion to the decades-old conflict.

Asked if any serious progress will be made before the end of Obama's first term, Liel replied somewhat whimsically. "If before then Mahmoud Abbas manages to visit Gaza, and come out in one piece, then the answer is 'yes'," he said.

'Political realities' are that there is no deal to be had between Israel and the 'Palestinians' now and for the foreseeable future. Abu Mazen can't go to Gaza and Israel cannot endanger itself by making concessions to an interlocutor who cannot follow through.

And then there's the possibility that the meeting won't happen at all.

Senior diplomats in New York said Tuesday it was highly unlikely that U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would hold a three-way meeting at the end of the month.

The diplomats are credible sources at the United Nations who are in close contact with Israel's delegation to the world body.

...

The ambassador of a Western nation told Haaretz Tuesday that there was no firm information on such a meeting from any party involved in the Middle East.

He added that members of the U.S. delegation had told him that they were unaware of any plan for a three-way summit between the leaders on Obama's agenda. The U.S. president will stay in New York for three days during the annual opening of the UN General Assembly.

Could Shimon Peres, who all but announced such a meeting to the world on Monday, have been overly optimistic? It would not have been the first time.

Obama has his 'political realities' and we have ours. What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:32 PM