Point 1) Why should the Palestinian unity deal be seen as such a downer?

After all, if there wasn't a unity deal then Bibi would cry out
"But I'm only talking to half a people!!!!",
and if there was a unity deal then Bibi would cry out
"But I can't possibly talk to THEM!",
so either way he won't ever take any talks seriously, let alone take them to fruition.

If that's the case (and it is) then Aaron's argument is simply a moot point, and everyone else may as well judge that deal on its own merits i.e. is Palestinian unity an intrinsically GOOD thing, or is it a BAD thing?

To everyone who isn't a minister in the Netanyahu cabinet I would have thought the answer was a no-brainer i.e. having all the Palestinians inside the tent pissing out is much better than having a two-way-pissing-contest between Hamas and Fatah.

After all, the actual specifics of the deal contradict the accusations that have been levelled against it i.e. the deal is **not** that Hamas and Fatah agree to rule the PA between them but, rather, the deal is that Hamas and Fatah both agree not to claim the right to govern the PA until after the next election.

In the meantime the PA remains as it was i.e. a government of technocrats who answer only to Abbas, and Abbas is tasked to negotiate as the chairman of the PLO, not as the President of the PA.

Where, exactly, is the problem in that?

Point 2) "For Bibi, the peace process is a headache. If it gets serious, his coalition will break;"

Then Obama should break it i.e. he should:
1) Push Bibi until he falls to the ground,
2) Mount Bibi's severed head on a stake, then
3) Wave that trophy under the nose of the next Israeli PM as a classic demonstration of "pour l'encouragement des autres"

Why not?

After all, he ain't gonna get any other use out of Bibi, so he may as well take what he can get i.e. he should take Bibi's head to hang as a trophy on the Oval Office wall.

After all, Bibi's just beggin' fer' it.

Israel has two long term existential problems to the longevity of its State:

1. Water resources - Lake Tiberius is dropping and the Jordan River no longer runs into the Dead Sea largely because of intensive irrigation needed for Israeli agriculture and to service the needs of not only 7.5 million Israelis, but over 3 million Palestinians, not to mention the Jordanians, who also have only the one water system to provide potable water. A peace with all the neighbors is necessary to arrest this diminishing, yet necessary natural resource.

2. Demographics. In Israel proper (inside the 1967 borders) already the Israeli Jewish population is down to 75% according to the CIA Fact Book, which represents a 5% reduction from 1990. The Arab Moslem population is up to 25%. If there is no "two state solution" but a "one state solution" that incorporates all lands from the Jordan to the sea into the State of Israel, then Israel will experience a sudden jump in non-Jewish Israelis which will, over night transform even the 75% demographic majority into a 55% majority. Given relative birth rates, Israel as a democratic and Jewish state will be no more. Only peace and a two state solution solves this long term problem.

Netanyahu, however, tends to the peace process only from the immediate and short term perspectives of holding his current coalition together that includes Ultra Orthodox Jews (who do not believe in the legitimacy of the State of Israel) and the Settler Movement Parties. He ignores the long term systemic problems of the current impasse at his own peril.

No less an Israeli patriot than Yitzak Rabin saw the imperitive of moving forward with the two-state solution in order to preserve the longevity of the State of Israel as a Jewish Homeland. Netanyahu surely is not more Israeli than was General Rabin, who by the way was assassinated by a right wing radical Israeli.

The movement of Hamas into the Fatah agreement, seen from Netanyahu's perspective is ominous. But how about looking at it from Machaal's perspective. He is sitting in Damascus Syria where a brutal regime is putting down an open rebellion. He is the financial patron of Iran which has its own problems and which at the end of the day is Shia whereas the Hamas constituents in Gaza are Sunni Moslem. If things get tight, and they are getting tight for both Assad and Ahmadinejad, Hamas is likely to become the financial sacrificial lamb. So it is an economic strategic move by Hamas to get off of the Iranian tit and move over to the one that Fatah is on, which flows with milk that come from Western sources.

Hamas, like all similar beggar organizations and beggar regional states in the Middle East, sing the tune of them that feed 'em. Netanyahu and the US miss the boat to assume that ideology trumps economics when it comes to our adversaries in the Middle East. Its right the opposite. Ideology has no where to go if there is no cash in the till. Whoever puts up the cash calls the tune. Hamas has been virolently anti-Israeli because that has been the policy line of Hamas' regional sponsor, Iran. If Hamas is away from Iran, it will take up the line of whoever supplies it with money.

Look at Arafat. When he no longer has the Soviet Union to supply his PLO and had to switch to the West, in 1988 even he recognized Israel. Look at Bashar al Assad, because of living off of the Iranian tit, he remains at odds with Israel too. And then move to Abdullah II in Jordan, peace with Israel means that the US provides aid and more importantly trucks in fresh water every day to Amman. Mubarak was the same in Egypt. He kept the peace treaty with Israel in order to keep the $3.0 billion in aid from the US.

Nothing in the political bazaars of the Middle East are for free. Everyone has a price and if you pay it then you get dancers to your tune. We have known this for decades and so Machaal of Hamas is playing to step into whatever aid will flow to Fatah with a peace treaty. Do not count on him spoiling the deal.

Now is the time to cut one and I think Obama's timing could not be better for the US nor more needed for the sake of the longevity of the State of Israel.

"Instead of public diplomacy, the president should run silent and deep. No deadlines, no big speeches, no threats. Quietly see what Bibi and Abbas will put in your pocket on the big issues; see where Palestinian unity goes and where the Arab spring is headed. For now, keep your powder dry and revisit your big speech later in the year. "

Right now there are too many uncertainties in the Middle East and this is a very bad time for Obama to try for anything constructive. There is no guarantee the so-called Arab Spring will produce a run of democratic governments that respect human rights; there is no guarantee that whatever governments arise in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, hell even Yemen, Libya or Syria will be any more friendly toward Israel than the present ones; there is no certainty that the merger of Fatah and Hamas will produce a unified Palestinian government, let alone one that will be effective in dealing with the myriad problems faced by the Palestinian peoples. There is certainly no chance that the government of Israel would recognize any government that includes Hamas, whether or not the UN agrees to recognize such a state and welcome it into membership. And the US would not dare do so as long as Israel can yank its chain.

Best to tamp down the feeling that something needs to be done about the Palestinian vs Israeli problems. The need to be active may arise later, and we can hope there will be a better time for US involvement. Let's allow the pot to boil a while.

"And if something isn't done on the peace process, the new Arab democrats may be thwarted by Islamic radicals."

Because that is what keeps all the "democrats in the middle east" , you are pretty much saying that the arabs are so influenced by the peace, when there is no peace in Israel the radicals take over? I wish Israel would have that much power.

It is true that radicals use the situation for their purposes, but connecting the peace with the so called democracy in the arab world is kind of out there

Here’s a peace plan for you. This one begins with leaning on the Palestinians and the Arabs. For starters:

Full and unconditional diplomatic recognition of Israel.

Full and unconditional recognition of Israel’s right to exist within secure borders.

Full cessation of all acts of war against Israel, including but not limited to: full cessation of all economic boycotts and embargoes against Israel; full cessation of military action against Israel by independent states (Syria, Iran) AND their proxies: Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, ET. AL. (that is, EVERY single proxy).

If the Palestinians and their Arab enablers are serious about peace, let them forswear all acts of violence against Israel and all calls for Israel’s destruction.

Until then, no deals.

The U.S. has stood by Israel and been their ally. We've told the world, when they've bombed Palestine in retaliation for much smaller and less damaging attacks coming from Palestine, which they have walled off and occupied, that they have a right to defend themselves. We've allowed them to behave in a way that further isolated them from the rest of the region and made us appear complicit and supportive of their behavior. Behavior which is clearly based on self-preservation but at the cost of being viewed as selfish, self-centered, and unconcerned about how their policies effect everyone else in the region and abroad. They have operated unilaterally and taken what they felt they deserved, largely with the tacit approval and backing of the United States (or at least that is how the rest of the world, especially the Arab world, see's it). And why wouldn't they see it that way? Israel has declared that Arab countries are a threat to them and they have no qualms with taking preemptive military action against other states for the sake of their security. And all we say is "Israel has a right to defend itself", in response to this kind of behavior.

The U.S. needs to cut the court, sand stand with the rest of the world in criticizing Israel and telling them it's time to get on board. They can't live in isolation and constant fear, while threatening and intimidating their neighbors. They can no longer use the U.S. as a body guard so they can bully others. Once Israel realizes they don't have the rubber stamp support of the U.S., and the rest of the world is critical of their policies and human rights records, they'll either get on board or continue to live in fear ultimately making further isolating themselves.

Yes the Arab world, Palestine, Hamas, needs to recognize Israel as a legitimate nation state and a legitimate people. But they won't as long as Israel remains so fixed on it's own selfish needs and the people of Palestine remain isolated by the West Bank Apartheid Israel has built to keep them isolated, under control, and an easy military target if they step out of line.

My apology for straying from the topic, but I'm confident many will find this interesting.

Funny, you don't look Libyan:

Check out the "rebel fighter" at about 20 seconds into this video embedded in an Al Jazeera article today:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/2011519173422863609.html

Non-violence has already brought down an empire. Remember Gandhi? Wait until Palestinians realize their strength and the winds of the Arab Spring arrives in the region.

Bibi is making big talk in the Congress to big big applauses, where will all his big talk go then?

We've allowed them to behave in a way that further isolated them from the rest of the region and made us appear complicit and supportive of their behavior. Behavior which is clearly based on self-preservation but at the cost of sázkové kanceláre being viewed as selfish, self-centered, and unconcerned about how their policies effect everyone else in the region and abroad. They have operated unilaterally and taken what they felt they deserved, largely with the tacit approval and backing of the United States (or at least that is how the rest of the world, especially the Arab world, see's it). And why wouldn't they see it that way? Israel has declared that Arab countries are a threat to them and they have no sázkové kanceláre qualms with taking preemptive military action against other states for the sake of their security. And all we say is "Israel has a right to defend itself", in response to this kind of behavior.The U.S. needs to cut the court, sand stand with the rest of the world in criticizing Israel and telling them it's time to get on board. They can't live in isolation and constant fear, while threatening sázkové kanceláre and intimidating their neighbors. They can no longer use the U.S. as a body guard so they can bully others. Once Israel realizes they don't have the rubber stamp support of the U.S., and the rest of the world is critical of their policies and human rights records, they'll either get on board or continue to live in fear ultimately making further isolating themselves.