[New Republic] Shmuel Rosner - Obama, Netanyahu, and Abbas are reportedly planning to meet next month on the sidelines of a UN conference in New York. In what has become almost an annual ritual, peace talks are "relaunched" with much fanfare and enthusiasm, only to yield little in the way of substantive progress. If there's no talking, there can be no progress. But both American and Israeli officials understand that differences in position between the two sides are probably too wide to bridge at this time. More importantly, the agreement of all sides to meet signals an end to the antagonism that has characterized U.S.-Israel relations since the beginning of Obama's term. Netanyahu has essentially agreed to some form of settlement freeze. Obama's peace envoy, George Mitchell, has accepted the reality under which Jerusalem can't be part of any freeze agreement.
2009-09-02 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive