Tue, 19 May 2009 08:30:59 +0000 – By Michael GoodwinNew York Daily News Columnist/FOX News Contributor
Say this much for President Obama's view on the Mideast: he's consistent. He was off course before his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he was still off course when the meeting ended.
Although Obama set a timetable for dealing with Iran, saying the end of the year was sufficient to judge progress, he continues the dead-end idea of linking a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute with ending the rogue Iranian nuclear program.
Declaring the creation of a Palestinian state as "critical" to getting more international support for tougher actions on Iran, Obama conflates two issues that are inherently unrelated.
The inevitable result is a policy disconnected from facts, and thus doomed to failure.
Nowhere yesterday was there any evidence the President realizes that Palestinian terrorism and corruption are the largest hurdles to peace with Israel. Obama did not even demand that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist.
To read Mr. Goodwin's complete column, click here.
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