Presumably with the advice of the meddlesome Zbig (whose track record includes now having guided two presidents into successful “dialogues” with Iran), Obama seems to believe that despite no realistic prospect to reach a substantive agreement, the process of negotiating anything – even something already accepted – can serve a political or diplomatic purpose. Aside from being wasteful, that view also overlooks or dangerously discounts the awful consequences that can be precipitated by unrealized expectations.
While settlement construction undoubtedly can be made to exacerbate tensions and therefore is best left ignored, the composition of those settlements is an issue that does deserve attention. Post-Palestinian statehood, shouldn’t the “settlers” be given the choice of either remaining in place and becoming citizens of Palestine (a la Israeli Arabs) or relocating to Israel? That, of course, won’t happen – and the Arab world shall be judenrein with universal blessing. Call it apartheid if the German word is too stark.
It’s the worst of what the peace process has brought, serving nobody’s interest other than the likes of Brzezinski, for whom promises on a piece of paper matter more than peace. For sure, Kissinger knows all about that.