Here’s the first few paragraphs from the op-ed I wrote for Fox News:
(Washington, D.C.) — To say that the pundits have low expectations for President Obama’s trip to Israel and Jordan this week would be putting it mildly. Most expect a series of photo ops, but no serious progress on the three major issues: the Iran nuclear threat, the implosion of Syria, and the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
“It is hard for me to recall a less-anticipated trip to Israel by an American president,” noted Thomas L. Friedman in his recent column in the New York Times. “But there is a message in that empty bottle: Little is expected from this trip — not only because little is possible, but because, from a narrow U.S. point of view, little is necessary.”
Actually, much is necessary. The president needs to “re-set” U.S.-Israeli relations in a positive way after a contentious relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the first term. But that is the just the beginning.
There are three critical questions the president needs to answer on this trip….
[To read my full column, please click here.]
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