|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c51_a13228/Editorial__Opinion/Editorial.html
Wake-Up Time for Rice
[The Jewish Week] Editorial - Is Condoleezza Rice the last person who still believes that a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is possible by January? As the Secretary of State makes her way to the Mideast for yet another round of talks, it would be wise for her and the Bush administration to acknowledge the obvious: that no agreement is possible at a time when the leaders of the U.S., Israel and the Palestinian Authority are either lame ducks (George Bush and Ehud Olmert) or have little clout or leverage to begin with (Mahmoud Abbas). Rice no doubt will find Olmert and Abbas ready to talk, setting off another round of diplomatic and political rhetoric about the importance of negotiations. But none of the leading players in this drama can overcome the reality that they have overplayed the peace hand, at least for now. They should be focusing on putting the process on hold and paving the way for new and creative paradigms to deal with a very old problem: refusal to acknowledge a legitimate Jewish state in the Middle East.