As usual, Josh Landis is brief, brilliant and right on target. The Obama White House should study every word. It is time for a diplomatic revolution if they want to save themselves a massive upheaval in the Middle East in the next few years. Listening to where the Arab world really is at is going to be the key to a successful American intervention in the region. The rage and shock that has spread across the Arab world could lead to a new regional confrontation with Israel. But if Obama coordinates a systematic engagement with all regional powers and players, including Syria and Turkey, in addition to a new kind of engagement and negotiation with outside powers such as Russia and China, we may see an emerging consensus on both what Israel must do, what Iran must do, and what Hamas must do, in order to step back from the precipice of a regional conflagration. This is in Palestinian long-term interest as well as Israel’s, whether or not the Israeli electorate or Hamas’ constituency feels that way at the present time. Sometimes people need to be brought to a new place, whether they want to go or not, and there is no judge who has not seen these kind of turning point in bitter divorce disputes. We are reaching such a turning point, and we need forceful, well-informed mediation, with the interests of the children front and center.
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