Today, the first session of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will resume in Washington, despite the fact that the likelihood for success is very slim and regardless of the tremendous domestic pressure being brought on the Obama administration from the pro-Israel lobby.
One way to look at this is that US President Barack Obama wants to jump-start the process (which he promised he would, shortly after being elected 20 months ago) in the hopes that he can carry it over to next year and concentrate on garnering results post-mid-term congressional elections.
The problem is that it is difficult not to be pessimistic. Since 1993, when the peace process was initiated, Israel has managed to strengthen its position and control while carrying out illegal policies against the Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has already declared that colony construction will continue and has demanded Palestinian recognition of the "Jewish character" as a precondition for any peace agreement. This has put a lot of pressure on the Palestinian camp which already announced it will withdraw from talks if Israel doesn't extend its colony freeze. Another major issue to contemplate is the exclusion of Hamas from these talks which will lead to major obstacles in the coming months.
Until now, the Obama administration has not put forward a clear peace accord proposal that satisfies both sides and addresses the long-term problems. We still don't know what his stance is on critical issues like occupied Jerusalem or the right of return. Moreover, when Obama took a strong stance on the illegal construction of colonies, Israel did not listen and a flimsy compromise (in the form of a temporary freeze) came about.
America's reputation as a peace broker and influential player is at stake and the Obama administration will suffer both domestically and internationally if the talks turn out to be a failure. The onus is on Obama to set the tone from the beginning and stand up against Israeli intransigence and arrogance, though this is very much unlikely.
