AP reports: "Israel's prime minister backed away Monday from a target date - announced with great fanfare at a U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference last November - for reaching a deal with the Palestinians by year's end. [...] 'There is no practical chance of reaching a comprehensive understanding on Jerusalem' during 2008, Olmert told a closed-door meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to an official present at the gathering."
Comment: I can't imagine Bush being too happy with this, he seems to be counting on Mideast peace progress to shore up his legacy. What no one is saying, but should, is that the real impediment to a peace deal is the Palestinian civil war and until that is resolved with a Fatah victory, there will be no peace deal. Of course, Iran probably won't simply allow Hamas to lose, so the stalemate will likely continue. Perhaps that is for the best, I'd hate to see Bush force an untenable peace deal on Israel simply for the sake of his presidential legacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment