Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Middle East Peace: Tony Blair Gets It--But When Will Obama?

Tony Blair says that now he understands how Israelis view the peace process:
It was only when I came back to this after leaving office [as British prime minister ] that I understood the impact of the [second] intifada and the disengagement from Gaza on the Israeli mindset. The combination of those two things fundamentally changed the way Israelis look at this situation. Their position now is to say, ‘Show us that if we make peace, it’s a genuine, lasting peace with a Palestinian state that we can predict, that is stable, and that is a secure partner for us. Show us that, and we’ll give it a go. But if you can’t show us that, the experience of the last 10 years makes us very doubtful.’
The question is: will we have to wait until Obama leaves office before he understands?
Or not even then.

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1 comment:

NormanF said...

I don't think not even then. John Mearsheimer is right there is no longer a significant pro peace movement or party in Israel (if he means Peace Now and Labor-Meretz) but not for the reason he thinks. The reason is the other side is not ready to make a peace with Israel that involves real acceptance of the two state solution. And its not going to happen in our own lifetime.