In Mideast Talks, Scant Hopes From the Beginning

There is little confidence that the Obama administration’s goal of reaching a Mideast peace deal in one year can be met.

"Haim Assa, who served as a close political consultant to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the 1990s and continues to advise centrist Israeli leaders, said that even though the talks were between the Israelis and Palestinians, the power of success was with the Americans.

“The main player is the United States,” he said. “All the cards are in its hands. When the U.S. leaves Iraq it will want to put together a coalition of Israel, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians. These talks are central to that happening. If they push and take it seriously, they can do it.”"

I will cheer for peace. I do not expect it.