Getting real about Palestinian talks

Washington Post:

The Obama administration has concluded that an early resumption of high-level negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over a Palestinian state is unlikely in the near future -- an acknowledgment that it has fallen short, for now, on one of its major initial foreign policy goals.

While still pressing for face-to-face talks between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Binyamin Netanyahu, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun to urge Arab states to encourage Palestinian participation in lower-level talks with Israel to avoid a vacuum.

"We recognize that things have stalled," Clinton spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "We're looking at a variety of ways that increase interaction between the parties in some form." He described the proposals as "baby steps" that would eventually "create a momentum of their own, and the effort can pick up steam."

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I will not fault this conclusion. It is one I expected all along. I will fault this administration for its Bush bashing over the issue since he did try to mediate talks and his representative was met with exploding Palestinians for months, before he to came to this conclusion.

While Arabs claim that these negotiations are important, their actions prove they are not. If they really wanted a peace agreement, they have had numerous opportunities over the last 60 plus years and each time they walk away because they can't bear to recognize the reality of Israel.