US President Barack Obama is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas for the first round of direct talks aimed at bringing peace to the Middle East.
President Obama will be joined by Jordanian King Abdullah and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak.
American presidents have tried, again and again, to forge peace between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.
As the latest round gets underway in Washington, expectations are realistic.
“We do not expect to achieve peace in one meeting,” US State Department spokesman P.J Crowley said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas are due to meet in Washington with the starting point settled – all issues are on the table.
“We know what the issues are – Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, borders, security – there aren’t many options in terms of the types of solutions that are being offered,” Council on Foreign Relations Robert Danin said.
“There’s now an international consensus that the agreement should be a two-state solution in peace and security. So, now its a question of defining what that means,” he said.
The process was marred by the deaths of four Israelis, reportedly shot by a Palestinian gunman on the West Bank.
In her announcement of the talks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton predicted something like that could happen, but the two sides must keep talking.
“The enemies of peace will keep trying to defeat us and to derail these talks.
“But I ask the parties to persevere, to keep moving forward even through difficult times, and to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region,” she said.
The goal of forging peace is seen as a difficult challenge, and mutual suspicion is just one of the many factors standing in the way.
“It’s not that Prime Minister Netanyahu or President Abbas don’t want peace. Or, that they don’t want a peace process,” Mr Danin said.
“It’s that both sides are suspicious of the other party. They’re not convinced that the other party is serious. They’re not convinced that the steps they will be required to make are worth it, for the payback they may gain,” he said.
Despite those challenges, the Obama administration has set a goal of finishing direct talks to forge peace for the Middle East within one year.
President Obama intends to set the stage for the talks himself.
After a series of one-on-one meetings, he’ll host a working dinner at the White House, with Secretary Clinton hopefully sitting down with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas directly.