(Commentary) Jonathan S. Tobin - George Mitchell is back in the Middle East to resume his fruitless negotiating between Israel and the Palestinians. Even without the burden of pushing Israel to freeze building before talks even begin, it's not clear that there is any purpose to Mitchell's visit other than a symbolic gesture of America's continued interest in peace. The administration has already tried and failed with its sole idea for promoting peace: pressure on Israel. While Israel's critics and foes are urging Obama to double down on such pressure, it appears that even the president and the secretary of state are finally beginning to understand that there is little point to investing any energy in such a process when they know that even if they gain more concessions from the Israelis, the Palestinians will always say no in the end anyway.
2010-12-16 10:02:18Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive