A forceful piece in today's Washington Post by the realists:
We believe that the Arab-Israeli peace process is one issue that requires priority attention. In perhaps no other region was the election of Obama more favorably received than the Middle East.
Their diplomatic/political analysis is also helpful, interesting. My emphasis:
To date, the weakness of the negotiating parties has limited their
ability to come to an agreement by themselves. The elections in Israel
scheduled for February are certainly a complicating factor, as is the
deep split among Palestinians between Fatah
and Hamas. But if the peace process begins to gain momentum, it is
difficult to imagine that Hamas will want to be left out, and that same
momentum would provide the Israeli people a unique chance to register
their views on the future of their country.
I.e., apply pressure now, and make the Israelis vote for Livni:
overcome by the president speaking out clearly and forcefully about the
fundamental principles of the peace process; he also must press the
case with steady determination.
I'm thinking of blogging every day this other great thing that Scowcroft said recently:
problem which has plagued us since the founding of the republic, [treatment of blacks] and
now, we have dealt with it. And people will feel good about the United
States.
[T]he Palestinian issue, while it's not important to many states in the
region, it's nonetheless — it gives the members of the region a deep
sense of injustice. And we have removed in this country, with
this election, a lot of that sense of injustice in this country. We
ought to try to do it in the Middle East.
