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.

Bret Stephens for the Wall Street Journal recently wrote an op-ed piece about Why Israel Hasn’t Attacked Iran. Although he has received numerous accolades from around the world, I am surprised at his war hawking in this piece.

First off, Israel completed a rocket tracker yesterday that can shoot Hezbollah and Hamas rockets out of the sky. Nice. That kind of defensive warfare not only sounds cool, but will likely keep Israelis safe.

Stephens runs through the ideas as to why Israel has not yet blown the Iranian reactor to pieces, of which include the unlikelihood of success, time biding, internally jarring Israeli politics, and a history of European intercessions, should anything arise.

He writes, “There is now talk that the Obama administration may be reconsidering its military options toward Iran. Let’s hope so.”  Oh, Mr. Stephens. I’m not the anti-Israel, give peace a chance toting blogger that you commonly come across, but at least I recognize that in the 21st century, any kind of “military options” for peace aren’t going to work.

The world is too interrelated – take the flotilla for example. What if Israel bombed Iran? The whole world would effectively abolish the Jewish state. But same goes for Iran – if they even touched Israel, the West would come down way hard on them. So everyone plays it cool. Israel’s got the defense, Iran can waste their money on W.M.D. Everyone’s happy, right?

Elie Wiesel (Left).

For many on the right, supporting the Obama administration is akin to denouncing Israel as a state. But many young, liberal American Jews desire peace in the Middle East, and wish that the heads of government were more willing to compromise. This is actually the majority of American Jews, according to a New York Times article, which also notes that American Jews who voted for Obama still support his decisions, but that Israeli support of Obama has plummeted.

Today, Obama had lunch with Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, to try to assuage some of the hostility directed towards his administration’s tactics. The writer pronounced tensions between the two states as over, but in Israel there are still feelings of animosity.

With talks set to begin in the region later this week, there is speculation as to how the Israeli government will lean when it comes time to compromise. Mr. Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister has reassured Israel that it will defend the border against Hamas attacks, but that doesn’t seem as dedicated as the Israelis want, especially with the necessary approval of the Arab League lingering in the background.

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.

In Gaza, the tunnels that lead to Egypt are a key mechanism for the transportation of goods.  They have recently been multiplying like rabbits, fueling illegal trading of supplies that Israel has outlawed, in turn, dropping prices and leading to rebuilding of the areas that Israel bombed last year. Overall, Gaza is in much better shape than the West Bank, which often gets mired in Israeli bureaucracy. Yet Hamas remains politically isolated from the other Arab countries in the region.

In the West Bank, nonviolent efforts for peace are taking root – literally. Palestinians are planting trees and inviting peace mongers like MLK III and Gandhi’s grandson to the region in hopes that a peaceful resistance will lead to a Palestinian state. Public support for military approaches has dipped below 50%, a large factor in prompting these small efforts.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., President Obama has been discussing with officials the possibility for putting forth a treaty. Fears rest on possible Israeli rejection of a proposal, and the subsequent refusal of Palestinians to work with anything less than what the U.S. puts forth. While details remain uncertain, a sharing of Jerusalem and a return to 1967 borders would be certain. Likely would be an Arab recognition of Israel as a state and U.S. or U.N. troops stationed along the Jordan river to prevent paramilitary attacks.

With things going the way they have been, look for an American attempt at fostering peace talks in the imminent future.

It has recently been argued in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal that the Westernization of the world is not related to Palestine, and infuriates jihadists nevertheless; that no matter the cause, Islamists would find reason to hate America.  Westernization, Bret Stephens suggests, will be embraced by few and rejected by many, as is always the case with liberalism, until the passage of time shifts what used to be liberal into the norm.

In response, Thomas Hegghammer of The Economist argues that Palestine isn’t the only part of what drives anti-American sentiment across the globe, but the state itself certainly does matter. The Economist, a British weekly magazine, takes a more moderate stance than the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, pinions of the right and left, respectively.  It is important to note that according to Hegghammer, images of dead Palestinians accelerate recruitment of anti-American jihadist groups.

While it would be naive to think that assuaging Palestine’s worries and fears will bring about peace in the Middle East, it does seem logical that if Palestine were to be placated in some manner, anti-American sentiment would die down among the Arab league. Was the rebuke of Israel then the Obama administration’s charade to get on the good side of the Islamists who burn American flags? Probably. Does that mean that it worked? It’s too early to tell.

Talks between Netanyahu and Obama wrapped up after tensions between the two governments flared over the past few weeks.  Recently, the U.S. has urged Israel to yield to its requests to forego building in Jerusalem, but Israel asserts its right to build in its capital.

The Obama administration has softened its approach to Iran’s building of nuclear weapons in hopes of winning Chinese and Russian approval. The Israelis, in return, have announced a small 20 unit housing project in a mostly Arab neighborhood, Sheikh Jarrah.

Obama wants Israel to move into peace talks by tackling the big issues – border negotiation and refugee return, topics which ruffle Jewish feathers, especially with the upcoming Arab League meeting encouraging the attendance of Hamas. Unfortunately for Abbas, any endorsement from the league must play in favor of anti-Israel sentiments, which would further stifle any peace efforts in the region.

The Obama team also wants Netanyahu to ditch his Orthodox backing, in favor of the Kadima party led by Tzipi Livni. Chances are, however, that peace talks will be slow in coming if Palestine plays for Arab support and Israel  garners Orthodox support.

The Obama Administration has condemned the Israeli comments about building new homes in Ramat Shlomo, leading to the absence of warmth and fuzziness in the American-Israeli relationship so characteristic of preceding American presidencies. Obama believes the only way to peace in the region is a two state solution, and that the way to achieve this is through compromise.  Chances are President Obama will take a hard line with both Israel and Palestine, but for the former this may seem a pugnacious attempt to improve American standing in the Middle East, at the expense of Jewish-American relations.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is hawkish when it comes to Israeli rights, but the renewed violence in the Gaza strip only underscores the need for a peaceful solution in the form of two states. If, as Obama hopes, he is able to coerce Palestine into severing their ties with Iran, the while enforcing Palestinian leaders to recognize and appreciate a Jewish state, perhaps Netanyahu will surrender certain parts of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. That’s a lot to ask for, especially from a state that harbors such large extremist groups. Some have suggested financial compensation to move Palestinians out of the area, others have scoffed at the possibility for peace at all, but for Obama, forming ties to Syria and other Middle East countries are the focus. It seems that  rather than lashing out against American enemies, Obama is trying to foster pro-American sentiment within those countries by scorning pro-Israeli action.

The success of the upcoming proxy peace talks will determine not only the relationship between Israeli and Palestine, but that of Israel and America as well.

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Tuesday to call for negotiations between Palestine and the Jewish state and to dissuadeIsraelis from unilateral military actions against Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

Calling the U.S.’s ties to Israel “unshakeable,” the Vice President arrives on the eve of indirect peace talks between Palestine and Israel, which mediate through American ambassadors in Ramallah.  Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiatior believes that this will be one of the last chances for a two state solution and that Palestinians are willing to yield a large part of the West Bank in exchange for a parcel of equivalent sized land.

Israel is hesitant to oblige Palestine because of their association with paramilitary groups. Mr. Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, wants to retain Israeli military presence on the country’s eastern borders. Ceding of land to Palestine would also require more than half a million Jews relocate.

Biden’s trip serves to mediate between the two states, but more than anything, its purpose is to back Israel’s confidence as a lone satellite in a constellation of extremism. Essentially, Biden as figurehead, is attempting to quell the Israeli fear of Iran’s nuclear program.  The best way to determine the kind of job he is doing is by following the peace talks, the first in over a year, over the course of the next few months.

Following the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday, the Jewish community has been at the forefront of relief efforts, with much of the push coming directly from Israel. The earthquake, ranked a 7.0 on the Richter scale, devastated the impoverished nation of Haiti, particularly the capital city Port-au-Prince. Experts estimate a death toll in the thousands, with hundreds more still trapped under the rubble caused by the Haiti earthquake damage.

The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, IsraAID, sent a group of twelve search and rescue workers to the Caribbean country. Many Jewish nonprofit organizations have also raised and donated money, and the Israel Defense Forces are likewise offering their support.

Groups like IsraAID have doubled their efforts by partnering with organizations in the United States, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Reports indicate that several Israelis were living in Haiti, including Sharona Elsaieh, who is the daughter of Abie Nathan, an Israeli peace activist and humanitarian who died in 2008. Elsaieh, along with two other Israelis living in Haiti, are currently unaccounted for.