Barack Obama announced yesterday that Israel will work on a settlement freeze before Israel was able to announce that they would re-new their settlement freeze. Mr. Netanyahu would have a hard time ending it now, after Mr. Obama’s statement. The U.S. has agreed to trade approximately $3 billion worth of military materials with Israel for a three month extension. The U.S. has also agreed to more strongly back Israel in the U.N. and push for harder sanctions against Iran.
The Americans hope that three months will be a long enough time to work out borders for the new Palestinian state. And while cynics point to potential foibles in this plan, Obama and Co. think that the pre-1967 borders can be reinstated. The Economist argues that the only way a border settlement can be reached is if Mr. Netanyahu reorganizes his coalition, and moves from his more conservative ties to more moderate ones. The Kadima party, under Tzipi Livni, seems to be a good choice.
Even though the Americans badly want peace, it’s not up to them. Peace can only work if both the Palestinians and the Israelis are behind it, because as history has shown, compromise between these two parties can be difficult to achieve.
