Israel Matzav: Good news: When 'proximity talks' fail, Obama to convene 'international summit'

Good news: When 'proximity talks' fail, Obama to convene 'international summit'

President Obumbler is so determined to establish a 'Palestinian state' that he has already told several European leaders that if when the 'proximity talks' fail, he will convene an 'international summit' to establish a 'Palestinian state.'

U.S. President Barack Obama has told several European leaders that if Israeli-Palestinian talks remain stalemated into September or October, he will convene an international summit on achieving Mideast peace, senior Israeli officials told Haaretz on Thursday.

The officials said the conference would be run by the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia - in a bid to forge a united global front for creating a Palestinian state. The summit, they said, would address such core issues as borders, security arrangements, Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.

Obama is determined to exert his influence to establish a Palestinian state, the officials said, and several European leaders have vowed that the EU would support any peace plan proposed by Washington. Therefore, though so-called proximity talks are set to start in the coming weeks, Obama is already readying for the possibility that the indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks might reach a dead end.

And why September or October? Because the Arab League is meeting Saturday night and demanding that 'progress' be shown within four months.

The UN General Assembly will reconvene in late September, and that month will also mark one year since Obama hosted a largely unproductive trilateral summit with Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition, September 26 marks the end of the 10-month period Israel allocated for a freeze on West Bank settlement construction, and Netanyahu will have to decide whether to allow such building to be resumed.

Israeli officials said they believe Obama could postpone the international summit, or the unveiling of his own peace plan, until after the midterm Congressional elections in November, in which his Democratic Party is widely expected to suffer heavy losses.

Because after all, it would do wonders for the Democrats electorally if Obama made an announcement like that in October, wouldn't it?

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: Good news: When 'proximity talks' fail, Obama to convene 'international summit'