(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Robert Satloff - The Obama administration is gamely trying to avert President Mahmoud Abbas' promise to apply for full Palestinian membership in the UN by restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The U.S. strategy is to entice the Palestinians away from their self-generated diplomatic train wreck at the UN by building on President Obama's May 2011 speech that included the Palestinian-friendly formula of "1967 lines with mutual swaps." In this context, Tuesday's Quartet statement expressing "great concern" about Israeli plans to build additional housing in Jerusalem and the large West Bank settlement of Ariel seems, at best, to run counter to the overall U.S. effort. The administration has once again endorsed the concept that Israeli construction in Jerusalem is forbidden. The writer is executive director of The Washington Institute.
2011-08-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive