Obama Preparing New Show

So now indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians is supposed to start no later than “mid-May.”

The Haaretz reports, “On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received an official invitation to the talks from U.S. President Barack Obama. In the message to Abbas, Obama acknowledged that he was unable to extract a commitment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze construction in East Jerusalem. But the president expressed confidence that Israel would refrain from ‘significant’ actions in the eastern part of the city during negotiations.”

Confidence in Israel as collateral... that’s comical. Abbas has accepted Obama’s invitation, hopefully with an exit strategy.

We’ll see if they get farther than Obama’s last round of indirect negotiations, which failed to begin. Hard to imagine how they will. The White House seems clueless on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, sending US envoy George Mitchell to “restart” proxy talks at the same time Netanyahu reaffirmed total control of Jerusalem.

Then Obama vouches for him anyway.

The Haaretz observes, "Sunday will see the conclusion of another pointless visit by the U.S. special envoy. There will be a second meeting with the prime minister, and that will be enough. We still won't grasp the purpose of George Mitchell's frequent trips here, nor will we understand why the emissary would make a mockery of himself and the people who dispatch him."

"Mitchell, for his part, is now singing Israel's praises, as if he were following the talking points the White House updates every now and then," writes Yossi Sarid. "This week, in the wake of Independence Day and the International Bible Contest, the strings are being plucked with finesse and there are no wind instruments in the background. This week, Netanyahu is being handled, for a change, with a soft stick instead of an officer's staff."

Not even Mitchell, the supposed objective observer, is presenting a true representation of the conflict. Again rejected by Netanyahu and going home empty handed, Mitchell insisted that Obama wants a Palestinian state.

“That has been American policy. That is American policy. That will be American policy,” he said. “Comprehensive peace in this region must not be just a dream. It must be and it can be a reality. We want to make this reality happen and soon, not in some vague and distant future time.”

This type of thinking reveals both the ignorance and manipulation of Washington.

If some parts of the White House actually believe they can broker a two-state solution in two years then they’re delusional. Obama can’t get the parties to the table in two years - he certainly isn’t solving the Jerusalem riddle in two years. Other parts of the White House admit to this reality and are trying to hide it.

Of all the flaws in America’s latest attempt to mediate between the Israelis and Palestinians, the goal of a quick solution is true madness. Imposing a fair two-state solution is one thing, but creating a sovereign Palestinian state isn’t and has never been American policy. The White House does have a plan: to rush through direct negotiations without the proper conditions and impose a two-state solution under Israel’s terms.

The goals:

1. exploit the resolution politically in the 2012 election and militarily in the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan in particular)

2. bury the conflict so America can return to supporting Israel absolutely and begin policing a Palestinian state with US or NATO troops.

Yet Americans apparently still believe Obama needs to stand up stronger for Israel. Justice is drowned out in ubiquitous deception. The White House's new show opens in May.