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Risks and Advantages in U.S. Effort in Mideast

(New York Times) Mark Landler - On Tuesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu's senior cabinet ministers convened in Jerusalem but did not even take up a package of security guarantees being offered by the U.S. in return for Israel's extending a freeze on the construction of settlements in the West Bank by 60 days, officials said. The Palestinians, meanwhile, rejected a U.S. proposal that they keep negotiating without an extension in return for an American offer to formally endorse a Palestinian state based on the borders of Israel before the 1967 Middle East war. The question some are asking is whether President Obama is risking too much too soon - and for too little. Martin S. Indyk, a former American ambassador to Israel and a negotiator in the Clinton administration, said, "We have to be careful not to pay with strategic coin for mere tactical breathing room." "The original sin was putting so much emphasis on settlements, an issue we couldn't resolve," said Robert Malley, the Middle East and North Africa program director for the International Crisis Group. "We've spent the last year trying to undo the damage of that step." "We recognize that to get the parties over this hump we have to offer something of value to each side," said State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley. "In return, we need a commitment from the parties to remain in the negotiations long enough to reach an agreement. We don't want to go through this again."
2010-10-06 09:01:19
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