“Yes, We Can’t”

Yossi Klein Halevi has a must-read on why many Israelis are caught between seeing a Palestinian state as an existential necessity and as an existential threat. It's helpful in understanding where the Israelis are coming from. What I find just as interesting is Halevi's understanding that the preconditions Obama has landed on the Palestinians are, in many ways, more onerous than those he has asked from the Israelis. The likelihood of an agreement on these terms is highly unlikely, without serious shifts in the Palestinian leadership. If Netanyahu were as smart as Obama, he'd agree with everything the president proposes … and wait for the Palestinians to dig in. Instead …