Obama And The Jews, Ctd.

He talks with Marty:

Last on our agenda--but longest--was Israel. [Obama] knew my historic concerns. I said that I was pessimistic about the possibilities of peace. He said he was "skeptical." That is exactly the right frame of mind for a president to bring to the 100-year dispute that has eluded the most ingenuous formulas for resolution. It is certainly better than being too optimistic. That was the trap into which Bill Clinton fell. (This was not Obama's observation but mine.) You hit a snag. You put pressure on the party over which you have the most leverage--Israel, in this case--and yet the Palestinians remain recalcitrant, feeling that their real concession was to sit down at a conference table in the first place. Nothing happens. You squeeze a little more out of the Israelis, only to encourage the Arabs to demand more, which they do.