Time for a Deal

I don't know what the editors at Time/UK are smoking, but hey worth the read if not to look into Abdallah of Jordan's "reasoning"....In the London Times, here

"...As King Abdullah of Jordan told The Times yesterday, it is time to make peace in the Middle East. Not only is there an urgent need to avoid another war, which could break out within a year or so in Gaza or Lebanon if things are allowed to fester. But a comprehensive settlement, rather than further partial deals or separate agreements on reviving the economy in the West Bank and returning the Golan Heights to Syria, is the only way that the spiral of suspicion and mistrust can be halted....

Rarely have the conditions been more favourable — or more urgent......

In Damascus, where the King will have talks today, there is also a realisation that the past two decades have led to a dead end. Syria is now desperate to bolster its flagging economy, to escape the suffocating embrace of Iran (and the consequent odium of its Arab neighbours) and to do a deal that would lead to the return of the Golan Heights. Ironically, the Syrian role is now reversed: for years, the elder Assad denounced his neighbours for making a separate peace with Israel and insisted on a comprehensive deal. Now Syria is itself talking separately to Israel when what is needed is a regional settlement that would also bring in the Palestinians and the Lebanese.

Finally, the key change is in Israel. The elections have ended (??) a long period of drift and uncertainty, and brought to power a Government that has authority and will not be afraid of opposition on the right to any peace talks. Binyamin Netanyahu, admittedly, is seen by many, especially in Washington, as an unreliable opportunist and is regarded with suspicion in the Arab world. But he is a shrewd political operator, and knows (does he?) that the Obama Administration is unlikely to be fobbed off with any delaying tactics intended to scupper proposals for a two-state solution. The Prime Minister has a chance to resurrect his reputation, to grasp the opportunities that the Arab eagerness for peace offer, and to secure not only guarantees for Israel’s security but an unprecedented acceptance of Israel among its many Arab and Muslim foes. The accolade of being acclaimed as an Israeli De Gaulle could be the historic outcome of an imaginative response in Washington next week to Mr Obama’s proposals."