BEEN THERE, DONE THAT – AT 7:09 P.M. ET:  Secretary Clinton announced that Israel and the Palestinian Authority (which controls the West Bank, but not Gaza) will start face-to-face peace talks on September 2nd.

Hmm.  September 2nd is the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.  Just a note.

Should we be optimistic?  Pessimistic?  Well, let's put it this way:  The Palestinian delegation can't speak for all of "Palestine," since a good chunk of it is controlled by Hamas, which rejects peace talks.  So any agreement can only be partial.

We've been here before.  The parties negotiated face-to-face for years, with little to show for it.  As Bill Clinton points out, the Israelis put forth generous proposals in the late 90s, and they were turned down.  The Israelis are wary of making still more concessions, and then being told to make more and more, just to get a signed piece of paper. 

And there are plenty of interests who oppose a peace agreement, including the increasingly powerful Iranians, Hamas itself, Hezbollah, and leftist groups in the West, who would like to see Israel, becaue it is an American ally, defeated.

So, I'll lean toward pessimism, but I'd like to be pleasantly surprised.

August 20, 2010