President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton began new Mideast peace talks this week in Washington. The talks bring together the leaders of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority to start yet another high profile effort to achieve the goal of Mideast peace. As you know, Mideast peace is always on the presidential to-do list and although past presidents have come close (some closer than others), the goal remains elusive. In the following statement (text), President Obama expressed his optimism for the talks and his determination not to let those opposed to peace obstruct their progress:
I’d like to call you attention to this opinion piece in Foreign Policy in which Stephen Walt provides a good sampling of informed opinion. Most of those cited are pessimistic about chances for these talks to secure lasting Mideast peace.
I would like to be optimistic, peace is a worthy goal, but I don’t see any grounds for optimism. Peace talks are usually conducted with the enemy on the other side of the table and the enemy has not been invited to these talks. I’m referring, of course, to the Palestinian political party/militia known as Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip. They are the group with the guns (and missiles) and they are implacably against the peace process. There are very sound reasons for not inviting Hamas to the peace talks, no one really wants to legitimize a group we consider to be terrorists, we don’t want to increase Iranian influence in the region (Hamas is an Iranian proxy), or recognize that they enjoy more popular support among Palestinians than their erstwhile Fatah representatives (the other political party/militia), but the logic of peace requires engaging the enemy. There are only three options here as I see it. Hamas will have to be co-opted, appeased, or destroyed. As things stand right now, we are unwilling to do any of those things. I’ll only take the peace talks seriously when it’s clear that one of those options is under active consideration. Until then we are left to witness the spectacle of U.S. leaders seeking to nudge Israel towards peace with the one Palestinian political party/militia that is not at war with them.
