President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shook hands today, a first for the pair, today after the leaders each sat down with Obama in the White House to talk about Obama's peace plan for the region.
US President Barack Obama emerged Tuesday afternoon from bilateral meetings with both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas without any dramatic declaration, but vowing to move ahead with the diplomatic process, while seeming to step back from his call for a total settlement freeze, saying that Israel now is discussing "restraining settlement activities."
It is interesting that the President may be reneging on his commitment to a total Israeli settlement freeze, but I do believe that there should be as few preconditions as possible when it comes to negotiating a peace to a decades long problem in which many, many previous peace plans had failed.
"It is past time to talk about starting negotiations; it is time to move forward. It is time to show flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that is necessary to achieve our goals," [Obama] continued, adding that leaders in the Middle East could not continue "the same patterns, taking tentative steps forward, then taking steps back."
The US president reiterated that "the United States is committed to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, which will result in two states living side by side - Palestine and Israel. It remains important for the Arab states to take steps to promote peace in the region."
I hope that Netanayhu and Abbas take this message to heart, because each side is going to have take unpopular steps that alienate their political base. Israel will have to curb settlement construction and dismantle or abandon those settlements that will become part of a potential Palestine. Abbas will have to bring Hamas into the fold, recognize Israel as a legitimate, Jewish state, and denounce violent resistance in pursuing peace.
Abbas also has another problem. He needs to understand that the arbiter in this process, Barack Obama, while much more favorable to Palestinians than his predecessor, still must answer to a populace where 60% support Israel compared with only 8% supporting the Palestinians. Americans will need to believe that Israel is being satisfied for an Obama I/P peace plan to flourish. Some Palestinian concerns may have to be handled on the down-low, lest they sully the entire process and doom the region to future decades of bloodshed.
There will be many roadblocks to come, be they from Palestinian terrorists, Al-Qaeda affiliate groups, Israeli terrorists, or the United States Congress, so flexibility will be vital. Because we can never forget, while just about everyone wants peace, it's the few deranged assholes that often mess everything up.
Barack Obama has made a career of overcoming obstacles and bringing communities together. I think the skeptical Israelis, Palestinians, and citizens of the world should give him an oversized chance here, because really, what do we have to lose?