Real News Network does a good job presenting the significance of the possible prisoner exchange:
Three reactions to the Obama speech by left-leaning Israeli journalists. More below.
The Sunday Times of London has this to say:
Administration officials say privately that Obama has given himself two years for a diplomatic breakthough on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, despite the opposition of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to America’s minimum demand for a freeze on all settlement [...]
There are many who believe (or are worried) that Obama will follow the path of some of his predecessors and talk in public about stopping the settlements (and by implication the settlers) but do nothing about it in private. Aluf Benn argues that Obama is serious and has Congressional support on this issue:
United States President [...]
Uri Avnery agrees with my assessment of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting:
BARACK OBAMA is often compared to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but it is from the book of another Roosevelt that he has taken a leaf: President Theodore Roosevelt, who, 108 years ago, advised his successors: “Speak softly and carry a big stick!”
This week, the whole world saw [...]
Now that a few days have passed, I’m prepared to make a few comments about the Obama-Netanyahu meeting that took place earlier in the week.
A detailed report by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker, on opportunities and dangers facing the Obama administration:
American and foreign government officials, intelligence officers, diplomats, and politicians said in interviews that renewed Israeli-Syrian negotiations over the Golan Heights are now highly likely, despite Gaza and the elections in Israel in February, which left the Likud [...]
Andrew Sullivan over at his blog on The Atlantic quotes a piece by Jeffrey Goldberg (of the same magazine) on why “Hamas will never be a partner for peace.” The details of Goldberg’s argument are irrelevant. It is just a tired variation on a tired theme. Every time I read silly articles like that, steam [...]
An interesting analysis by Simon Tisdall of the Guardian, discussing Obama’s options:
If in four years’ time, military confrontation with Iran has been avoided, the Iraq withdrawal has been managed honourably and without internal collapse and some kind of half-credible peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbours is in train, Obama’s people will probably call [...]
Not too long ago I was discussing with my daughter in Israel the abysmal choices she faces in the upcoming election there. In the end, she said, it didn’t really matter who won the election. “We’re waiting for Obama.” Exactly.