At the largest convention of world leaders in Washington in more than 50 years, President Obama can point to making progress. With Russia and Ukraine working to cut back on stockpiles of Uranium and bombs, and China with the U.S. on Iran sanctions, Israel should feel confident.
Israel remained absent from the meeting, however. Speculations vary, but many suspect that the Obama administration’s censure of Israeli nuclear capability would have been discussed at length. Others remarked that Prime Minister Netanyahu declined to attend because Arab countries would have focused on Israel’s nuclear program, goading Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel warned the U.S. that it will not accept any ultimatums regarding peace talks. While King Abdullah II of Jordan urged the U.S. that its engagement in the process is necessary, and that if the U.S. doesn’t impose a timeline on certain requisites, the process will be interminable.
On the other hand, Syria, it seems, has given Hezbollah Scud missiles. These rockets have a distance of 435 miles, which endangers Israeli cities and hurts Syrian-American relations, weak as they are. All of these developments signal no further step toward compromise in the Middle East.
