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Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/19/obamas_peace_process_to_nowhere
Peace Process to Nowhere
(Foreign Policy) Elliott Abrams and Michael Singh - The proposed U.S. offer for a 90-day extension of the construction freeze in West Bank settlements masks an unwelcome shift in U.S. mediation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The troubling precedents set by this package will serve to dim rather than enhance prospects for a breakthrough in peace negotiations. The most worrying aspect is the linkages it establishes between Israeli concessions on settlements (and apparently on the pace of construction in Jerusalem as well) and other unrelated policy matters. Washington has long opposed, and frequently vetoed, UN Security Council initiatives targeting Israel, not out of a sense of charity, but because they were unconstructive, unhelpful, and unprincipled. The suggestion that unless there is a construction freeze America will no longer do so will make it far harder for U.S. negotiators to defeat or soften such drafts in future years. Leaving Israel undefended in the UN will make successful negotiations less, not more, likely, for an Israel that is under constant attack will batten down the hatches, not "take risks for peace." More disturbing still is the explicit connection between U.S. security assistance to Israel and the settlement freeze. As much as Israeli officials may desire the additional hardware, particularly in light of the growing threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, they will no doubt think long and hard before setting this precedent. A stand-alone border agreement is a mirage. For Israelis, more important than where the border lies is what lies beyond it - what security arrangements will be put in place to prevent a barrage of rockets originating from the West Bank, as they now do from Gaza? Elliott Abrams is senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Michael Singh is a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Both worked on Middle East affairs at the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration.