Steven White and P.J. Dermer blast the administration's approach:
The achievements of the USSC [US Security Coordinator], which began operations in 2005 and commenced training Palestinian security forces in 2007, have formed the foundation of every claim of progress made by successive U.S. administrations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The mission has been integral to the re-establishment of stability and security in the West Bank for Palestinians and Israelis alike — militias are off the streets, crime is down, and basic order has largely returned…
While the accomplishments of [the USSC] were recognized and celebrated by Europeans, Israelis, Palestinians, and our regional partners alike, its significance seems largely lost on those in Washington. President Barack Obama's Middle East team has particularly failed to grasp the importance of this effort: It has not only failed to exploit the progress for political gains, but has in fact scaled back the mission's key role as an interlocutor between the parties. It's a fact well understood, and at times lamented, by our Israeli and Palestinian counterparts.
(Photo: A Palestinian protester faces off with an Israeli soldier as Israeli settlers from the Yitzhar Jewish settelment attacked the Palestinian village of Asira al Qibliya, according to the villagers on May 19, 2012, near the northern town of Nablus in the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank. According to Palestinian eyewitnesses and security forces, fifty settlers attacked Palestinians there with stones. The Israeli army fired tear gas to disperse the clashes, and two Palestinians were wounded by stones, the Palestinian sources said. By Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/GettyImages.)
The Dish 
