Barack Obama extended his hand yesterday and
pleaded with Binyamin Netanyahu to grab it in order to pull Israel to
safety. Before Israel goes over the
cliff. Before Israel becomes a pariah
state. Before Israel loses its remaining
good will around the world and the few friends it still retains.
As the UN Security Council deliberates on a resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction over the Green Line, we appeal to the Israeli government to act in the country’s best interest, in the interest of peace, and in the spirit of friendship with the US, and implement a complete, effective settlement freeze, unlimited in time and including the area of annexed East Jerusalem.
Ask a 5th grader what the shortest distance is between two points, and she'll probably tell you - a straight line. Similarly, ask a lover of Israel - right, center or left - what the best path is from the current Israeli-Arab conflict to the goal of peace and, with few exceptions, you'll hear: "Direct talks between the sides".
But what happens when the straight line to peace is blocked; when the direct road is indefinitely out of service? Is there a reasonable detour that can still get us, safe and sound, to our destination - "two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security"?
Proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians are set
to begin next week. Now hit the snooze
button.
I don't mean to be snide, or to belittle the sincere efforts
of President Obama and his team. And I
don't even mean to say that no talks are better for the Middle East than the
upcoming indirect ones. Communication
trumps violence any time.
In his State of the Union address Wednesday night, President Obama assured the American people that he would continue to aggressively pursue his domestic agenda in 2010. He summed up his determination at the end of the speech with a rousing, "I don't quit" guarantee.
But does the same tenacity and steely resolve apply to his Middle East peace initiative? Is the President still in it for the long haul? Or is Mr. Obama getting ready to let Israelis and Palestinians "stew in their own juices", as Israeli political analysts are fond of saying? Will he throw them off like excess baggage, weighing down an Administration already saddled with challenges enough for the next 3 years?
The first month of 2010 has provided several alarming signals.
On Tuesday, June 9, 2009, Ambassador (ret.) Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, addressed a crowd of Meretz USA supporters in New York. His wide-ranging remarks included a history and analysis of the Israeli, Palestinian and American approaches to the peace process. The summary below focuses primarily on the American aspect of his discussion.
Ambassador Wilcox termed Barack Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo as "stunning", and he praised the President for showing an equal measure of compassion for Israelis and Palestinians, without diminishing America's "unbreakable" bond with Israel.
I arose early yesterday to watch Barack Obama's much-awaited speech in Cairo. Unsurprisingly, I was impressed by the dexterity of the writing and the superb quality of the oratory. And, by and large, I found myself in agreement with everything the President had to say.
And yet, I came away feeling a vague sense of discomfort as well, a slight queasiness that at first defied explanation. After all, wasn't Barack Obama's clear enunciation of the illegitimacy of West Bank settlements and the non-negotiability of the two-state principle the best news since penicillin?
On Friday, February 20, 2009, outgoing Meretz MK Avshalom ("Abu") Vilan spoke to Meretz USA supporters in New York. His remarks were also carried by conference call. The following is a summary of his talk.
Opening on a personal note, MK Vilan noted that, as of February 24, he would no longer be a Knesset Member, since the Meretz party would have only three seats in the new Knesset, and he had been ranked number six on the party list. Vilan noted that he would continue with his effort to promote the One Home initiative for bringing West Bank settlers back to Israel.
MK Vilan first analyzed the results of Israel's February 10 elections, including the setback suffered by both Meretz and Labor. Pointing to the trend shown by the public opinion polls, he reported that the balance between Israel's right-religious bloc and its center-left bloc (65 vs. 55 seats) had been essentially stable - before the Gaza War, during the war, and after it as well. On the other hand, the election campaign saw major shifts within each of these blocs.
Vilan indicated that, in the last weeks of the campaign, the leaders of the two largest parties - Tzipi Livni of Kadima and Binyamin Netanyahu of Likud - had coordinated their strategy, in an effort by each party to grow at the expense of its natural allies. This strategy worked, he said: In the final run-up to the election, Kadima rose by seven seats at the expense of Labor and Meretz. Likud rose at the expense of Yisrael Beiteinu, whose Knesset result of 15 seats was much less than the polls' prediction of 20.
In his State of the Union address Wednesday night, President Obama assured the American people that he would continue to aggressively pursue his domestic agenda in 2010. He summed up his determination at the end of the speech with a rousing, "I don't quit" guarantee.
On Tuesday, June 9, 2009, Ambassador (ret.) Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, addressed a crowd of Meretz USA supporters in New York. His wide-ranging remarks included a history and analysis of the Israeli, Palestinian and American approaches to the peace process. The summary below focuses primarily on the American aspect of his discussion.
I arose early yesterday to watch Barack Obama's much-awaited 
Opening on a personal note, MK Vilan noted that, as of February 24, he would no longer be a Knesset Member, since the Meretz party would have only three seats in the new Knesset, and he had been ranked number six on the party list. Vilan noted that he would continue with his effort to 
